The 2024 presidential election has proven to be one of the most controversial in the history of the nation. Republican party nominee, Donald Trump, is set to return to office in January 2025. He won 312 electoral college votes, against Democratic party nominee Kamala Harris’ 226 votes.
To collect the community’s response towards the recent outcome of the election, the Pacer staff created and distributed a survey to all students currently enrolled in a social studies class. About 46 responses were recorded in total, with some having strong opinions on the topic.
The responses to Kamala Harris and her policies were generally positive. 46.2% of respondents were somewhat positive, and 19.6% expressed extreme positivity to her policies. Some of the proposed policies under the hypothetical Harris administration included tackling the housing crisis, making the price of prescription drugs lower, and abortion rights.
The positive response to Harris’ policies is quite a shock, as she had a fraction of normal campaigning time during an election year and still managed to win over the popular vote in New York.
Conversely, Donald Trump and his policies were widely received unfavorably or with neutrality. 63% of respondents responded negatively to Trump’s policies, with another 19.6% sharing somewhat negative feelings.
Project 2025 played a major role in this landslide decision. Project 2025 is a blueprint/wishlist of right-wing policies, that would be a complete overhaul of the US government. This was initially pitched by a conservative think tank, The Heritage Foundation, with former Trump administration members being the minds behind the 900-page piece. Some ideas included threats to religious freedom and early childhood programs such as Head Start.
Judging from the reception of Trump’s policies, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that a whopping 84.8% of respondents said “no” when asked whether or not they were satisfied with the outcome of this election.
When asked how students stay informed about the election, answers varied widely: social media, watching the news, and online searches were the most common responses. A few got their news secondhand from friends and family, and a minority tuned it all out.
There was outcry for a recall of votes and many decrying Trump’s audacity to run. “Trump is modern day Hitler,” said one respondent. “Very angry and disappointed in our nation can favor such a delinquent and felon,” said another.
One perspective sums up the results of the poll almost perfectly: “If majority of Gen Z could vote, Kamala would’ve won.”
The news is still difficult to grapple with even almost a month after, but even most skeptics note that the U.S. has survived four years under Trump’s leadership.
