From the economy to LGBTQ+ rights, student voters are determining what is important to them in the upcoming presidential election on Nov. 5.
The Tufts University Center for Information and Research on Civil Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) estimates 40.8 million people ages 18-27 will be eligible to vote, with a voter turnout of 50% or higher predicted in the upcoming election. In the 2020 presidential election, about 51.4% of eligible voters ages 18-24 cast ballots, according to a 2022 Census Bureau.
The Daily Mississippian interviewed a random sample of 10 University of Mississippi students to learn what issues matter most to them.
For sophomore history major Richard Pattarozzi, the state of the economy matters most.
“At the end of the day, inflation needs to get cut and taxes need to be down,” Pattarozzi said. “Things are just so hard right now economically. So honestly, that is the biggest deal for me. The economy needs to be fixed because right now we’re in a bad spot.”
Isaiah Winkler, a junior risk management and insurance major, also has major concerns about the economy, specifically taxes.
“My biggest concern is probably taxes — seeing, when whoever gets elected, if they are going to go up or down,” Winkler said. “You just see what the economy is going to be like in a couple of years after whoever gets elected, so we’ll just see what happens.”
Jared Carrillo, a sophomore finance major, has concerns about the economy because his family is currently building a house.
“I mean, my family, we’re building a house right now, and we’re able to do it,” Carrillo said. “But with how the housing market is and how terrible the economy is right now, that is a major concern.”
Junior Arabic major Lillyan Madrid expressed concerns about the character of the future president and their care for citizens of lower economic status.
“I worry about the character of the president. I feel like I would want someone who actually seems like they care about the lower class,” Madrid said.
Though Carrillo is concerned with the economy, he said his chief concern is border security.
“My biggest concern, personally, is the border,” Carillo said. “I want the border to be controlled. My grandfather immigrated to the country and did it properly, which is the way I believe it should be done. I’m totally open to having people from other countries coming in, but I think it should be done in a secure and safe way.”
Roman Wells, a sophomore psychology major, shared that voting for a candidate who promotes acceptance for LGBTQ+ individuals is most important to her because of her experience as a queer person.
“The most pressing issue to me comes from growing up being queer in the South, specifically trying to find a candidate that would accommodate queerness in the South and not discriminate against it,” Wells said.
Safety and freedom for herself and her loved ones are the most important issues for sophomore English and theater double major Ivy Comford.
“The most pressing issue on my mind about the upcoming election would have to be being able to live safely within a country where freedom is promised but not given on a silver platter like it should be,” Comford said. “I worry about my safety as a woman, my safety as a queer person (and) my safety as just a person in the United States. I worry about my friends, (and) I worry about my family, too.”
Max Wright, a junior music major, said that the rights of individuals in the LGBTQ+ community and the rights of women are the biggest issues he is considering as he votes in the upcoming election.
“As a queer man, I have to think about LGBTQ+ rights. Women’s rights are also very important to me, so making sure those rights are protected honestly is my biggest concern,” Wright said.
Other answers had more to do with the candidates themselves as well as characteristics that UM students would like their next president to possess.
For senior integrated marketing communications major Elizabeth Olson, not knowing enough about the presidential candidates is her biggest concern.
“The most pressing issue for me is the fact that I really don’t know enough to go vote,” Olson said. “I feel that the information getting to our generation is very skewed at times, and it’s not targeted for us.”
The age of the presidential candidates and their mental capability is the foremost concern for Brock Myers, a freshman professional sales major.
“The president’s age, I think, is a factor that needs to be reduced back to maybe middle age,” Myers said. “If you’re too old, it can affect the way that you think, and you can potentially not be in your right mind to run the country.”
Camp Holder, a junior political science major, said that a smooth transition in leadership is on his mind the most when thinking of the upcoming election.
“Just a change in leadership is concerning because any transition in leadership is going to be different,” Holder said. “If the party changes, you’re going from one party to another (and) basically everything could swap. So a smooth transition in leadership is what I am concerned about.”
