Voting for the 2024 Presidential Election was held on Nov. 5 with the Associated Press calling the winner of the presidential race the following day. Millions of people were tuned into news coverage of the counting, including senior Shawn Furstenau, who said he expected Democratic candidate Kamala Harris to win at the beginning of the race and watched the coverage with dread. When it was announced that Trump won, that feeling flipped, Furstenau said.
“It made me excited, but I wasn’t expecting it. I was really expecting Kamala to win,” Furstenau said. “I went to bed with so much stress, and then I just woke up and it was over. I was like ‘Oh, that’s it.’”
In contrast to the relief and excitement Furstenau said he felt after the election, senior Madison Gener said she only felt shock.
“There were so many people who were absolutely devastated, but I was just so shocked by the surprise of it all that I didn’t have the capacity to be devastated because my jaw was on the floor,” Gener said.
Although the results left some shocked, senior Darren Hall said his initial reaction was disappointment.
“I was definitely disappointed. If I could have voted, I would have voted for Harris. So seeing Trump win despite his many failings as a human was disappointing,” Hall said.
The disappointment he felt stemmed from the realization, Hall said, that what he believed to be important values in a candidate were not viewed with the same importance by others.
Former president and now president-elect Donald Trump is the first Republican to have won the popular vote since 2004. Gener said this indicated a change in American thought during the election season.
“I think [this election] reflects a huge shift in the way Americans are thinking and the way Americans are voting. I was disappointed by the results,” Gener said.
However, Furstenau said Trump’s victory was a sign of a better future.
“I have not been happy the past four years with the way the country’s been run, so I’m relieved that we’re getting out of that and moving on to Trump,” Furstenau said.
Trump’s campaign trail has seen him speaking on several issues, including his economic and more isolationist foreign plans for the country. These policies, Furstenau said, are what initially interested him.
“His peace through strength is very good in foreign policy,” Furstenau said. “Something that I strongly believe is that the war in Ukraine and Russia would not have happened if Donald Trump was reelected in the 2020 year, because Putin was scared of Trump and he wouldn’t have done anything.”
In addition to Trump’s ideas on foreign policy, Furstenau said he especially appreciated what Trump promised for the economy, including lower taxes and prices.
“For me, the biggest thing is the economy, so a lot of other things are just benefits or drawbacks,” Furstenau said.
Trump’s policies were not the only reason behind student’s reactions. For Hall, it had to do with the charges against Trump.
“He’s a criminal, and that harms his ability to be president, especially as it comes to foreign relations,” Hall said. “Almost every allied country of ours thinks he’s a joke.”
Though many voters had strong reactions to the results of the election, others fell more in the center of the political spectrum, like senior Nick Mathes.
“I didn’t really feel anything toward [the election]. I have a lot of stuff going on right now, so I just kind of pushed it to the side,” Mathes said.
Mathes said he aligns with Trump’s Christian identity, but said there are areas where he finds himself disagreeing with Trump’s ideas.
“He is a Christian, so I think that’s really what I align with, the belief that everyone should be loved,” Mathes said. “He’s very bold, very direct and he insults people, and I don’t agree with that at all.”
For Democratic voters, Gener said the projected benefits do not outweigh the potential harm of Trump’s policies. In particular, she said she is worried about Trump’s plan for the education system, which includes talk of dismantling the Department of Education and redirecting money to his proposed online “American Academy.”
“What Donald Trump believes about the Department of Education is quite concerning. I think with the way that he wants to reframe education, we are making our country more ignorant, and I think that will have a multi-generational ripple effect,” Gener said.
Trump’s policies on education, along with others that would be implemented under his presidency, have been outlined in what is known as Agenda 47.
“Agenda 47 is sort of his platform, there’s this idea that he’s going to cut funding to schools that teach curriculum that they ‘should not teach,’” Gener said. “There is a lot of restrictions on immigration, it attacks the rights of queer individuals and one of the biggest things is that it overhauls a lot of people that are federal employees.”
Agenda 47 was one of the reasons Gener said she voted against Trump in the 2024 election. Despite her initial disappointment at the results, Gener said she is not hopeless.
“I think our country really emphasizes individualism, and Americans, regardless of what side of the political coin they’re on, are going to be Americans,” Gener said. “I am hopeful that the right amount of people, the right kinds of people and the right numbers of people are willing to resist some of Donald Trump’s more radical policies so that America can continue to be a place that we can all prosper in and be ourselves.”
On the other hand, Furstenau said he voted in favor of Trump because he wants to express himself without fear.
“The reason I feel the way I do is because, in the past, I have felt like I have to be very quiet about [my political standing] because people will hate me. It’s more about being able to express myself. I am a strong believer in the First Amendment. I feel like anyone should be able to express themselves at any time without fear,” Furstenau said.
In addition, Furstenau said he was worried about a rise in hostility due to the divisiveness present in this year’s election.
“People got really passionate about it —and I was passionate too—but I am a person who recognizes that people have their feelings and people have their beliefs,” Furstenau said. “Because of how divisive it’s been, even going into it, I was like, ‘I hope Trump wins, but either way, whoever wins, the country will just hate itself.’”
The sentiment of potential hostility was shared by Mathes, who said he expects a rise in judgment among people.
“I think people are gonna be really hostile toward each other. They’re gonna judge people a lot and I don’t think that’s right,” Mathes said. “People are going to be more streamline with their own views and won’t be as receptive to the other side and criticism and that’s the whole point of politics, to find the best solution with both sides.”
While understanding the clashing opinions and possible hostility, Gener said she has hope for the country.
“I think we’re looking at increased polarization. I think we’re looking at potentially more violence, but Americans have survived things before, and I believe that they would again,” Gener said. “I am cautious and I’m skeptical about what’s going to happen in the next four years, but I don’t believe that this is America’s downfall.”
As the country enters Trump’s presidency, Hall said he believes it is important to remember that no matter the results, it is not the time to turn against other voters out of anger or disappointment.
“There are a lot of people with a lot of feelings, don’t start harming other people because of it,” Hall said.
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