The 60th quadrennial presidential election of the United States is Tuesday, November 5.
Kamala Harris, 60, is the current vice president, a former senator, and California’s first female attorney general. As a prosecutor, she specialized in child sexual assault cases for 8 years before becoming San Francisco’s district attorney.
Donald Trump, 78, is running for president for the third consecutive time and is now the oldest major party nominee in U.S. history. He is the only president to be impeached twice and was recently convicted on 34 felony counts. The reality television celebrity has continued to falsely claim that the 2020 election was stolen despite objections from prominent conservative legal figures.
Jill Stein, 74, is the Green Party’s presidential nominee. Stein, known for her environmental and political activism, is often accused of swaying the 2016 election in Donald Trump’s favor by taking away votes from Clinton—though the veracity of this is debated.
An anonymous survey was sent to Rollins students and faculty members to discover which candidate they are voting for in the November election, and why.
- Out of 145 student responses:
94 are voting for Kamala Harris (Democratic Party)
43 are voting for Donald Trump (Republican Party)
4 are voting for Jill Stein (Green Party)
2 are voting Independent
1 is voting for Peter Sonski (American Solidarity Party)
1 is undecided
- Of 39 faculty respondents:
33 are voting for Harris
5 are voting for Trump
1 is voting for Jill Stein
- 143 of those surveyed are voting in Florida, while the remaining 41 are casting their ballots among 23 other U.S. states.
- There were far more female student respondents than male; the majority of the female respondents said they are voting for Kamala Harris, while the majority of male respondents are voting for Donald Trump; all 8 Non-binary and Genderqueer respondents have said they are voting for Harris.
- 46 of 48 respondents, composed of both students and faculty voting for Trump, selected Economy/Jobs as one of the four issues they care most about. Trump has repeatedly claimed that U.S. inflation is the worst it has ever been and that the state of the economy is a “disaster.” On the contrary, inflation has dropped dramatically since 2022, approaching the Federal Reserve’s annual goal of 2%. Unemployment rates have remained low at 4.1% for September and October, nearing pre-pandemic levels of the labor market.
To gauge the rationale behind the vote, respondents were asked to choose 4 issues they care most about and elaborate on the questions “Why have you chosen this candidate?” and “Do you feel this election impacts you?”
Here is what they shared.
Why have you chosen this candidate?
White Female, Democratic, Voting Kamala Harris
Issues: Environment/Climate Change, Healthcare, Pro-choice, Racial Equality
“Abortion. I had one. If it wasn’t for this I wouldn’t be able to pursue higher education and would be carrying my abusers child.”
Non-White Female, Independent, Voting Kamala Harris
Issues: Healthcare, Pro-choice, Gun Control, Racial Equality
“I believe that Kamala is a more experienced, logical, and level-headed candidate for the election and will make better and more fair decisions for the country.”
Non-White Male, Republican, Voting Donald Trump
Issues: Economy/Jobs, Immigration, Foreign Policy
“Trump better represents my interests. Immigration restriction and a reduction of international expenditure are both top concerns for me. Global poverty and suffering can not be alleviated by allowing millions of people into the country, in my opinion. If the government is aligned with putting America first, I believe it will more effectively enable us to improve outcomes on the global stage, and of course internally as well.”
Non-White Male, Democratic, Voting Kamala Harris
Issues: Environment/Climate Change, Healthcare, Pro-choice
“Biden’s presidency was great and I see Kamala as an extension of that administration even if she says otherwise.”
White Female, Republican, Voting Donald Trump
Issues: Economy/Jobs, Pro-life, Immigration, Foreign Policy
“Because Kamala Harris is a joke of a candidate. Consistently threatens democracy, a free economy, unborn children, is destroying the United States perception across seas. She does not stand up for the men and women who are bravely defending our country in the military. She is more concerned with helping an award that we’re not involved in helping actual American citizens that lost everything in a hurricane. I don’t think that children should be able to have gender changing surgery until they are adults. I don’t think children should be murdered because their parents made an irresponsible decision. America needs somebody strong and brave and tough, and Kamala Harris, in my opinion is not that person.”
White Non-Binary, Democratic, Voting Kamala Harris
Issues: Environment/Climate Change, Healthcare, Economy/Jobs, Pro-choice
“YES! As a person who is able to get pregnant, I don’t want the government interfering with my bodily autonomy. Donald Trump was responsible for Roe V. Wade being overturned and abortion bans being instituted all over the country, including Florida. Also as an LGBTQ individual, I am afraid for my, and my communities safety because of the hateful rhetoric being spread by the right. I am anxious every day about the election…I would be so happy. Knowing that little girls can grow up and see a female president and know that they can be anything they want to be. A female president is a long time coming.”
Non-White Female, Democratic, Voting Kamala Harris
Issues: Education, Pro-choice, Gun Control, Housing affordability
“While I don’t agree with everything Harris stands for, she is undoubtedly more coherent, has run on policy rather than fear-mongering, and isn’t racist, sexist, ableist, homophobic, transphobic, xenophobic, a rapist, a conspiracist and so many other things and does not uplift those kinds of voices. She is cordial but firm when speaking to the other side of the aisle and uplifting when talking to her supporters. She seems like a person.”
White Male, Republican, Voting Donald Trump
Issues: Economy/Jobs, Pro-life, Immigration, Foreign Policy
“More pro-life than Kamala – economy – strong in foreign policy. Life is a basic right; science proves that a baby/person is inside the womb. Abortion devalues all life.”
White Non-Binary, Democratic, Voting Kamala Harris
Issues: Environment/Climate Change, Economy/Jobs, Pro-choice, Racial Equality
“She, by far, holds the more equitable policies out of the two party candidates and third party candidates don’t have a chance of winning in our current system. Also, she doesn’t have rape allegations.”
White Female, Independent, Voting Donald Trump
Issues: Environment/Climate Change, Healthcare, Immigration, Foreign Policy
“I think our chances of nuclear war/further war escalation is greatly decreased under Trump, and I dislike him but I don’t want to see more war.”
Non-White Female, Democratic, Voting Jill Stein
Issues: Healthcare, Economy/Jobs, Pro-choice, Palestine
“It represents who I want to be president, also since I am voting in a red state it doesn’t matter much.”
Do you feel this election impacts you?
White Male, Independent, Voting Kamala Harris
Issues: Environment/Climate Change, Education, Healthcare, Economy/Jobs
“I will be moving abroad and eventually renouncing my citizenship if Trump is elected. I will not raise children in a country who can elect someone like this. Knowing my neighbors and coworkers are racists and bigots will forever haunt me if I were to stay. As a queer individual with a partner, I would feel deeply unsafe remaining in the United States under a Trump administration.”
Non-White Non-Binary, Democratic, Voting Kamala Harris
Issues: Healthcare, Economy/Jobs, Pro-life, Equal Rights for all
“While Trump has decried Project 2025, the fact that his supporters wrote it is enough of a red flag. Also, looking through the policies on his campaign website, I only see mistruths and things that would make the country worse … She[Kamala] also has policies that I more-or-less support: pro-choice, pro-protecting LGBTQ+ rights, anti-bigotry, and an economic policy that doesn’t seek to just make GDP increase but actually help the people who need it. Really, the only reason I have to dislike her is that she doesn’t support Palestine, however she has supported the implementation of a “fair” cessation of hostilities. Overall, I just feel like with Trump all I can hope for is a country that is whole in 4 years, but with Kamala Harris, I feel like I can actually hope for policies to be implemented that will help those who need help.”
Non-White Male, Republican, Voting Donald Trump
Issues: Economy/Jobs, Immigration, Foreign Policy
“Even as a gay man, I don’t believe the election will impact my life directly in the short term. I’m not really concerned with rhetoric about “my rights” disappearing, Trump in the past and still does support gay marriage and basically any progressive social policy I would want. Although I believe the abortion stance was a misstep, it ultimately was not Trump but rather judges he appointed who voted to bring the issue back to the states. In the next 4 years, I hope that a brighter future becomes more apparent.”
Non-White Female, Democratic, Voting Kamala Harris
Issues: Education, Pro-choice, Gun Control, Housing affordability
“I am a woman. I am a sister. I am a daughter. I am gay. I am educated. I am not a billionaire. I believe in fact-checking. These should not be reasons why I vote for Kamala Harris as they are things I could never change about myself and should not be politicized. But they are. Trump has politicized everything about me down to my soul.”
White Male, Republican, Voting Donald Trump
Issues: Economy/Jobs, Immigration
“I am going to graduate and look for a job and home and inflation is at an all time high.”
Mixed-Race Male, Democratic, Voting Kamala Harris
Issues: Environment/Climate Change, Healthcare, Pro-choice, Racial Equality
“Yes, I do believe that ensuring a president like Donald Trump isn’t in office is paramount to my daily life. I am afraid for the political polarization this man has created. The republican party used to be well respected and politics used to be dignified, but in the era of Donald trump that isn’t the case anymore.”
Harris and Trump each need 270 electoral votes to win the presidency. According to the New York Times, as of November 3, neither candidate holds a significant lead in the polls—based on the margin of error, the election could go either way. Trump outperformed the polls in swing states in 2016 and 2024, and the same goes for Democrats being underestimated by polls in the 2022 midterm elections, or 2012 Presidential Election.
Still, J. Ann Selzer, a well-respected pollster whose findings often accurately predict the outcome of presidential races in Iowa, released a poll that shows Harris three percentage points above Trump in the red state; they attribute this to a rise in votes among independents, females, and elders in the corn state. According to a New York Times investigation, many of the boards that serve to certify election results have been infiltrated by disinformation surrounding the 2020 election results whom they have dubbed “The Army of Election Officials Ready to Reject the Vote.”
Will any of this come to fruition? The close nature of this race means that it may take longer for media outlets to announce the winner of the election, although there are fewer mail-in ballots this time around compared to 2020, which took place amid a pandemic. In swing states like Pennsylvania, a half-percentage-point difference in votes would require a recount. There are also legal challenges to be reckoned with: over 100 pre-election lawsuits have been filed by Republicans to challenge voter eligibility and management. The results of Obama’s 2012 election took less than a day, Trump’s 2016 win took until 2:30 am Wednesday, and Biden’s 2020 win took until Saturday morning as results from Pennsylvania trickled in.
Only time will tell who the next president of the United States will be.
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