(Originally Published October 11, 2024)
On November 5th, millions of Americans will go to the polls to pick the next President and Congress of the United States in what has been a contentious and dramatic election cycle.
In the race for president, incumbent Vice President Kamala Harris looks to become the first female and Asian-American president in U.S. history. Harris became the Democratic nominee in place of President Biden who dropped out on July 21st after a poor debate performance and showing in the polls. The Vice President chose Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her Vice Presidential candidate on August 6th after considering many options throughout the Democratic party base.
Former President Donald Trump announced his reelection campaign on November 15, 2022, and seemed to maintain a large base of supporters from his previous campaigns as he cruised through the Republican primaries. Trump picked Junior Ohio Senator JD Vance as his Vice Presidential running mate on July 15th notably before the Republican National Convention (July 15-18) and Biden’s announcement to suspend his presidential campaign. If elected, Trump would be the first president to serve two non-consecutive terms since Grover Cleveland who served between 1885-1889 and 1893-1897.
However, the 2024 election cycle has been far from normal. For example, Joe Biden’s announcement made him the first, eligible to run, incumbent president to remove his name from the presidential race since Lyndon B. Johnson in 1968. In addition, Donald Trump has been targeted with two assassination attempts this year alone and was charged with 34 felony counts by the state of New York, making him the first convicted felon to run for a major party nomination.
Both Harris and Trump have tried to appeal to the support of young voters through a variety of methods which you might have seen. Harris, who polls better with younger voters, has attempted to broaden her supporter base by starting Kamala HQ, a TikTok page that posts Kamala-related clips from her debates and speeches. In turn, Trump has collaborated with influencers such as Adin Ross while also maintaining a TikTok account of his own.
As election day approaches, it is important to stay informed on where and how to vote. Anyone interested in registering, volunteering at a polling place for community service hours, or learning more about how to vote can visit vote.gov or montereycountyelections.us.
——————————————————————————————————————————————–
Since the publishing of this article, Kamala Harris lost the Presidential election to Donald Trump 226-312 in the Electoral vote, while Trump also won the national popular vote for his first time ever. Trump will be inaugurated as the 47th President on January 20, becoming the second-ever president to serve non-consecutive terms. Looking down-ballot, the Democrats also lost control of the Senate and could not win a majority in the House of Representatives.
