On July 21, 2024, just a month after the first Presidential debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, Biden announced he would be dropping out of the Presidential Election. With only four months until the election, Vice President Kamala Harris was thrown into the position of Democratic Presidential nominee with the full support of Biden and his administration. Less than a month later, VP Harris announced her running mate: Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. Another month passed and the first and only Presidential debate between Harris and Trump took place, showing the country that Kamala Harris was a much stronger candidate than Biden. Finally, on November 5, 2024, people swarmed to the polls and intensely watched the news for outcome updates.

Before the election results were final, the country seemed to be evenly split between the candidates, but what did Mendham students think? In a poll sent to 250 students, with parent/guardian permission, 88 students responded. Based on their responses, students favored Kamala Harris at 61% versus Trump at 39%. What issues were most important to the students and who did they choose because of it? Those who stated that women’s rights, abortion rights, and healthcare were the most important issues chose Harris as their preferred candidate at a 95% rate. Those who were most concerned with immigration chose Trump at an 80% rate. The economy was almost evenly split, however, Trump had the majority at a 52% rate. When the environment was considered, 87.5% of students preferred Harris, and finally with international policy Harris led with a 60% vote.

Considering these responses, how did Mendham align with national voters? According to the Associated Press on November 25th while votes were still being counted, Donald Trump won this election with 50% (76,851,910) of the national vote and 312 votes from the Electoral College*. Kamala Harris trailed Trump with 48.3% (74,348,719) of national votes and 226 votes from the Electoral College. The remaining 1.7% (2,554,422) of votes went to various Independent candidates, such as Jill Stein and RFK Jr, however, neither candidate received any Electoral College votes. These results cemented Donald Trump as the 47th President of the United States. Those who turned 18 this year had the opportunity, for the first time, to vote in the Presidential Election. Elizabeth Panfile, an AP US Government and Politics student and voter stated, “ I’m a little disappointed, but I think that, or I hope that, …things will get better, and positive things will come out of this.” When asked about the most important topics for her, she voiced, “I was definitely focused on reproductive rights for women… [and] protecting democracy,” and because of this, she chose Kamala Harris as her preferred candidate. When elaborating on her answer she stated, “I just thought that Kamala Harris would be a better candidate [for] progress rather than [to] move backward.”

On the other side when asked about the results, senior Nicholas Bruno stated, “I am happy and satisfied with the result of the 2024 election … I feel confident in President Trump’s ability to run the country. Although I was young at the time, I know that the economy was stronger during his presidency and he was active in stopping the border crisis.” When asked about his most important issues this election, he voiced, “the economy, the border, and abortion” which led him to prefer the Trump/Vance administration. Some claim the fact that Kamala Harris had only four months to run officially, speaks greatly to the result of this election. Elizabeth Panfile stated, “Biden likely should have stepped down much sooner so that another candidate had a fair chance.” What if Biden had stepped down sooner? Could the US have had our first female president? However many times these questions are circulated, we will never get the answer, and with only four months to campaign, she struggled to win over undecided voters and bring registered Democrats to the polls. Bruno’s point of view more accurately mirrors the majority of this country. He stated, “I think that this country will see a lot of success over the next four years under the Trump/Vance administration.”

Although Mendham students, on average, did not align with the national vote, it is important to examine and express the viewpoints we are surrounded by daily. The results are clear — Trump has won the 2024 election and Republicans have won the House of Representatives and Senate. Our next four years are now in their hands for better or for worse. *The Electoral College assigns a certain amount of points to each state based on population and awards those points to the candidate who wins the popular vote of that state. For example, in New Jersey, Kamala Harris won the popular vote, so Harris was awarded the 14 Electoral College votes designated to NJ.