The presidential election on November 5 is drawing near, and there are a variety of perspectives on campus concerning the two main candidates. The Democratic candidate is Kamala Harris, sharing the ticket with vice presidential candidate Tim Walz. The Republican candidate is Donald Trump, with vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance.
Students feel both positively and negatively about even the act of voting.
“I felt a bit excited, I’ve always known it’s my duty as an American citizen to vote,” freshman Adrianna Ornelas said.
Ornelas voted for Harris.
“I picked the less bad option,” Ornelas said. “I feel like social programs are a must because we’re supposed to help our community. Also, I am pro-choice and so I feel like people should have access to medical procedures that directly affect them.”
Sophomore Alexis Peck also expressed the importance of voting, but, “getting my ballot was a chore,” she said. “I had to register to vote apparently, I thought I had done it automatically but something went awry.”
Peck thinks this was due to previously living in a different state.
“It’s more of a chore for me, it’s time-consuming,” sophomore Savanah McRae, another voter, said.
McRae is considering voting for Trump.
“I’m probably gonna do Republican because I feel like their party is more focused toward the working class and they carry some important values.”
When asked if there were specific values she favored, Mcrae mentioned helping the homeless.
Very few people perfectly align with either candidate or party.
“In terms of political beliefs I would probably align closer to one of the other parties,” Peck said. “Like the Green Party or something.”
Peck ultimately chose a major party candidate, Harris.
“Given the extreme-ness of this election, and the way that Project 2025 is so dangerous for so many minorities and rights in general, and he’s trying to make the king a thing again, just in presidential skin, I was like, ‘I think I’ll just pick one of the big parties this time,’” Peck said.
As Peck mentioned, Project 2025 has been a contentious issue. It was drafted by a right-wing organization called The Heritage Foundation to guide future policy-making. Critics of the project disagree with it cutting funding to departments like the Department of Education, weakening civil rights protections and removing checks and balances. Supporters argue that Donald Trump disavowed it when he said, “…and they (the radical right) come up with this- and I don’t know what the hell it is, its project ‘25…”
On which direction the campus leans politically, Ornelas said, “I’m not too sure, because in my circle people tend to lean more left, but I definitely do feel like there are people that lean right. So, it’s kind of a mix, maybe a bit more left because it’s a liberal arts, but you know, I think it’s more or less equal.”
Peck agrees that the school seems to lean democratic.
“I feel like a fair amount of this school leans more left, and I say that because there’s just a lot less confederate flags around, compared to Kalispell, Montana (her hometown),” says Peck. “I do know that there’s Republican people here, but at the very least they seem more reasonable than the ones at home, overall this seems like a pretty blue area, I can’t speak to everybody, but it seems like- I mean come on, there’s a pride flag on every block, not just a church on every block.”
McRae, despite being more conservative, isn’t bothered by the liberal feel of the campus.
“I think (campus) leans more democratic, but it does not offend me, I understand from both ends, I’m more open to understanding that,” McRae said.
