Above: President-Elect Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris. Photo courtesy of CNN.
It was a case of watching and waiting. SAU’s 2024 election night watch party, hosted by the College Democrats and Republicans clubs, took place in the Rogalski ballroom. Students waited for the moment when history would unfold.
On the night of the election, 15 students attended the watch party. SAU students discussed their thoughts on which presidential candidates would win certain states, including the seven swing states. Attendees paid close attention to which presidential candidate would reach 270 electoral votes.
Since the polls for different states close at different times, SAU students held mini-debates on different candidates’ policies to pass the time. Students expressed their reactions to Tuesday’s 2024 election.
“It was a surprise,” said Grant Jacobs, president of the College Democrats. I don’t think anyone really predicted the spread Trump covered, not to mention Republicans taking both the House and the Senate.”
A junior political science and criminal justice major, Allison Harker said “The best word to describe my reaction to the election is shock. Given the projection of the results, we may have each branch of government aligned with the same party. Regardless of how anyone voted, I believe it can be agreed that the next four years will be interesting to watch play out.”
SAU senior political science and international studies major Nadia Okba says, “My immediate reaction to this presidential election was relief and excitement for the return of Trump’s effective foreign policy and fruitful domestic efforts to bring American corporations home.”
SAU sophomore computer science major Ethan Vordtriede says, “Right after Trump was declared the winner I was pretty concerned. Trump was pretty divisive when he was president which is worrying when our country is already so polarized.”
SAU junior political science and international studies major Mackenize Kent said, “Personally, I was very happy that Trump won the presidency, that the Republicans won the Senate, and that Republicans are leading the House. I think America was very shocked by how well the Republican Party overall swept the elections.”
Students who made an appearance at the event, wondered if presidential candidates will win certain states based on how they represent themselves.
Jacobs said, “Going in, I didn’t think that was so much the case. Rather, it would have to be an exercise of which candidate can motivate their voters and undecided voters to turn out for them.”
Junior mechanical engineering major Erik Koopmann said, “To an extent, but it also depends on the state’s demographics. Michigan, for example, has a lot of automotive and manufacturing workers who can sway how results go in the state based on the candidate’s policies. Alaska is an excellent example of a state in which I knew Trump would win due to his oil pipeline policies, given the state’s large population of oil workers.”
Vordtriede says, “ I think Trump is going to win Arizona and Nevada, because he is getting more support from Latino voters compared to 2020.”
Okba said, “I did absolutely think that different states will be won by different candidates based on their representation. It was obvious that California, New York, and Illinois, the major metropolitan hubs of America, were going to vote Democrat based on past elections. Texas, Indiana, Ohio, southern, and farming states were guaranteed to vote Republican.”
SAU political science professor Marquard attended the watch party. He explained his reasoning about the two candidates of how they each represented themselves throughout the election season.
“There is a radical difference between the candidates. Trump didn’t stay on message instead using personal attacks, rambling stories and divisive rhetoric. Harris presented a more focused messaging (abortion rights, threat to democracy by Trump).”
Jacobs said, “I was surprised most of the night. We all knew it was basically a coin flip going on, but to see Trump win the popular vote (which few people as far as I know predicted), and carry every single swing state except Virginia was certainly a surprise.”
Students had conversations about politics in general. Dr. Marquard vocally pointed out his perspective on having a convicted felon as our 47th president. Although he wanted to end on a positive note, Dr. Marquard says he “…hopes that the Democratic Party will learn from its mistakes. The GOP has been working to pick up male minority voters and working-class members for a while, but was able to do this when the Democrats were perceived to lose interest in these people, creating a vacuum that Trump exploited.”
Alaina Peterkin is a staff writer for The Buzz.
