For sophomore Joseph Mezyk and other supporters of Donald Trump, the economy was the most important issue in this presidential election.
“I think he’ll help the country with prices of things and lowering inflation,” Mezyk said.
Junior Noah Saccani agreed, saying that with Trump winning the election, there would be a better chance to help improve the economy.
“Gas prices and products in general are still expensive,” Saccani said.
Sophomore Ryder Yeckley sees a chance to get the economy back to a better time.
“I think he’s going to reset the economy and put us back in a condition we were in before Covid,” Yeckley said.
Junior Addison Hirt hopes that prices of everything, especially gas, will go down.
“When I got my license, I did not expect gas prices to be so high, so hopefully they can start to go down now that I have been driving more,” Hirt said.
Senior Andrew Winschel liked Trump’s proposal to not tax overtime pay.
“Taking the tax off overtime is a great proposal because it could benefit not only me in the coming years, but it also benefits hard-working Americans,” Winschel said.
Senior Sam Vogel said Trump’s energy policies will help reduce inflation.
“I hope he kills inflation by using oil reserves instead of buying from other countries,” Vogel said.
Trump’s support of border control was another key factor in his success, students said.
Trump “will help the country through better management of the U.S. and Mexico border and not allowing people into the country illegally,” sophomore Aiden Robinson said.
Senior Mirabella Kreuzer also supports Trump’s position on illegal immigration.
“I like Trump’s policy to stop illegal immigrants coming to our country because they take American jobs,” Kreuzer said.
Junior Gavin Ries agreed.
“The most important issue for me was the lack of border control, because the border was not secure enough, and allowed a large number of illegal immigrants to come over into the United States.”
Robinson additionally cited Trump’s ability to keep peace.
“I also believe that Trump will prevent us from starting new wars and save the lives of many American soldiers,” Robinson said.
Although sophomore Emily Golembiewski is a Republican who supported Trump, she has some moderately Democratic views, particularly on abortion.
In 2022, the Supreme Court overturned Roe vs. Wade, which resulted in limits on access to abortion in some states. Some conservatives are in favor of a nationwide ban on abortions, but Trump came out against the idea last month, and Golembiewski opposes it as well.
“I agree with Trump and his plans for the economy,” she said. But on abortion, “Trump should leave control to the states.”
Ries agreed.
“One problem with Trump was his thoughts on abortion laws, because he is not a female, and women should be able to do what they want with their bodies,” Ries said.
Junior Matteo Di Cesare, a Trump supporter and pro-choice advocate, predicted that Trump would hurt the country in some aspects, while also being a beneficial asset to the country.
“I think Trump will hurt the country socially by making abortion illegal. But I think he will help our country economically with his ideas to benefit the middle class, such as lowering prices on essential necessities,” Di Cesare said.
Pennsylvania Trump supporters played an important role in his victory, Mezyk said.
“Pennsylvania was the biggest state he had to win,” Mezyk said. “He had to win Pennsylvania to win the election.”
Other supporters agreed on the significance of the battleground state.
“The key to Trump’s victory was his rallies in PA,” sophomore Aiden Robinson said.
Senior Jerome Sherwood pointed to Trump’s reaction to the attempted assassination at a Butler rally.
“His response to the assassination attempt really earned my respect,” Sherwood said.
Another contributing factor in Trump’s victory, junior Luke Thompson said, was that he found support among groups that traditionally supported Democrats.
“There were a lot more Black males voting for Trump than there were in the prior election,” Thompson said.
Junior Andre Diven said he supported Trump partly because of Trump’s support of minorities.
“Trump has done much to show his support for minorities in the country, and that is only one of the reasons I support Trump,” Diven said.
Junior Alex Kelly noted Trump’s excellent campaign instincts and strategies.
“Trump connected with the people more on their political views in my opinion. He is quick on his toes with rebuttals given and with that he was able to reach a larger number of voters,” Kelly said.
Trump supporter senior Matthew Nowicki agreed with Kelly that Trump was able to reach the people.
“I think Trump’s key to winning was getting to the American people a lot better than Kamala,” Nowicki said. “He was able to appeal to many people, including some Democrats.”
Winschel said that Trump’s ability to flip votes was crucial in his win.
“Even in the counties he lost, he was able to win back votes that he lost against Biden in 2020,” he said. “Those votes ended up adding up and gave him advantages in the battleground states.”
Nowicki was surprised that the election wasn’t closer.
“I was shocked that he won most of the toss-up states,” Nowicki said. “I thought it was going to come down to the wire at the end, but I’m glad it didn’t.”
Yeckley, meanwhile, said Vice President Kamala Harris was not ready to become the president.
“She could never really give a straight answer on what she wanted to fix, and she was always sourcing how she came from a middle-class family,” Yeckley said.
Kelly said Harris was unreliable as a prosecutor, so she would be unreliable as a president.
Kreuzer predicted that Harris supporters will challenge the election results.
“People can’t accept the fact that Trump won because he has better plans for the country,” Kreuzer said.
Trump’s decisive victory may leave a lot of Democrats upset, but for conservatives, this election is exactly what they had been waiting for.
“I had a lot of joy and excitement,” senior Andrew Langer said. “The country is going to get what it needs.”
Langer also noted one of the historical aspects of this election: Trump will be only the second president to serve non-consecutive terms, with the first being Grover Cleveland.
“It’s rare. You don’t see it too often, but the people already knew Trump had what it takes to be president,” said Langer.
Harris supporters unhappy
Junior Logan Douglas was expecting the outcome, but the results were still much to his dismay.
“I felt saddened and ashamed in a way to call myself an American,” Douglas said. “Seeing a convicted felon become president, I think America failed in this election.”
Douglas also said Trump’s rhetoric was responsible for the Jan. 6 attack on Congress. Beyond that, Trump’s personality had pushed him toward Harris’s side.
“It’s not so much the policies that pushed me to Kamala’s side,” he said. “It’s the fact that Trump, I feel, is only out for himself.”
Junior Abigail Horn is unsure of what the future will hold.
“I need a candidate that is hopeful and wants to unify the country, protect everyone’s rights, and doesn’t run on fear mongering or hatred,” Horn said. “I’m scared and disappointed.”
For senior Ryley Shaw, there were many reasons to support Harris.
“The most important policies for me were human rights, the economy, and climate change,” she said. “I feel like everyone should be entitled to their human rights, like abortion. Abortion is something that should not be up for debate in politics in general.”
Shaw also said Harris had policy proposals that were better than Trump’s.
“Kamala was providing tax cuts for the middle class, which would be beneficial for me and my family,” she said. “Trump supported the use of fossil fuels, which makes climate change worse, and Kamala supported using renewable energy, which I liked a lot more.”
Sophomore Lucy Smodic supported Harris because of her plan for climate change and reproductive rights.
“My most important issues going into the election were reproductive rights and environmental issues like climate change,” Smodic said. “I’m a person who wants to live on the planet in the next 30 years and the climate clock is at four years,” Smodic said. “This election was super important.”
Freshman Ethan Ellis also said abortion was an important factor in the election.
“I do not think it is a politician’s right to limit that,” Ellis said.
Junior Jordan Morris supported Harris because the abortion issue is a big deal for her.
“Coming from a man, he should not tell women what to do with their bodies,” Morris said.
Sophomore Chloe Scarborough thinks Trump will hurt more than help the country.
“I feel like he will take away women’s rights and will make things more expensive and just cause more fights,” she said.
Sophomore Nora Eckert also believes Trump will hurt the country more than help.
“I think his decisions are really going to hurt women right now with all the abortion causes. A lot of my friends have been saying they are doomed now for the future,” Eckert said. “I think when it comes to lowering taxes, that’ll be a help.”
Sophomore Emma Mainarich said gender played a big role in this election.
“I think the key to Harris’s loss was the fact that she is a woman,” Mainarich said. “I believe there is an unfair bias with gender in our country.”
For some Harris supporters, the margin of Trump’s victory came as a surprise. Smodic was surprised to see some states turn red rather than blue.
“I thought Pennsylvania was surprising because I thought that it would be blue,” Smodic said. “I thought more Midwestern states would turn toward blue because of (vice presidential candidate Tim) Walz.”
Like Smodic, Eckert was surprised about the Pennsylvania results.
“Pennsylvania was really surprising to me because it was a swing state and they became Republican in the end, but I thought so much of Pittsburgh would go out and vote for Kamala,” Eckert said.
Smodic believed a flaw in Harris’s campaign was not campaigning enough in rural areas.
“I don’t think she spent enough time in rural areas because of the map. It’s a bunch of major cities that are all blue, but anywhere else is red,” Smodic said.
Eckert believes one of Harris’s flaws during her campaign was not advocating enough in the South, an area that is largely Republican.
“I think she had a lot more rallies in swing states, but I think she should have tried to go to the South to advocate for being a Democrat,” Eckert said.
Ellis believes Harris lost because many Americans were skeptical and unwilling to change their opinions.
“A lot of people are dead set in their ways and don’t think that she could effectively run the country,” Ellis said. “With her parents being first-generation immigrants, they were more hesitant.”
Smodic is unsure of how life will change under Trump’s presidency.
“He’s not very tolerant of a lot of people, since he’s more for one kind of person and not like the diversity that America has,” Smodic said. “I think he could help with foreign relations since he’s friends with big leaders.”
Despite being a Harris supporter, sophomore Charlotte Fauls thinks that Trump won’t be a terrible leader.
“I was hoping for Kamala, but I know that Trump is going to help with the taxes and close the border,” Fauls said. “I know Trump will do some good things, but Kamala would have also done good things.”
None of the above
Some students were not impressed by either candidate.
“I felt Kamala Harris and Donald Trump did not bring enough positive energy to our country,” freshman Julian Noone said.
Senior Luca Fazio was reluctant to support either candidate in part because of the nonstop negative campaign ads. He believes no major changes will come from Trump’s presidency.
“I think people are taking the outcome too seriously. I really don’t see any drastic changes coming,” Fazio said.
A divisive campaign
This presidential campaign was incredibly divisive – and sometimes that created arguments among family and friends. Smodic has had disagreements with family members due to the election.
“My grandma is a big Trump supporter so there have been disagreements,” Smodic said. “It’s causing a divide in families and I think it’ll cause a divide in the nation.”
Fauls said one of her parents supported Trump while the other supported Harris.
“They ended up just canceling each other’s vote out, but they were trying to get the other on their side,” Fauls said.
Like Fauls, Eckert’s parents are divided.
“My dad is a Republican but he refuses to vote because of my mom, since she’s very liberal. When it comes to either voting for Trump and being more on my mom’s bad side, he chooses the other way,” Eckert said. “He still voices opinions, but then my mom argues back.”
Sophomore Harris supporter Andrew Fillipih said his friends exchanged words over the election today.
“Words were thrown at each other,” Fillipih said. “Because of it, there’s a strain on our friendship.”
Purbalite staff members contributing to this report: Milana Varon, Gwen Gordon, Rhia Diffendal, McKinley Beech, Arpan Basnet, Emma Powell, Nico Macurak, Ethan Green, Molly Gorman, Jules Ott, Hritika Pokhrel, Alayna Scanlon, Olivia Kozak, Brielle Fisher, Dominic Brown, Nick Burg, Ben Majcher, Sean Galentine, Jackson Sgattoni, Logan Huwalt, Ethan Stock, Zander Vecchione, William Thurman, Emiliana Austin and Maddy Behr.
