The heated 2024 campaign is more than a race between candidates and parties. Polls indicate that the preservation of democracy is among the top concerns for many voters.
As we approach Election Day, we wanted to hear how young people view this moment.
Connecticut Public “Morning Edition” host Lori Mack and Special Correspondent Diane Orson visited E.O. Smith High School in Mansfield, Connecticut, and spoke with a group of seniors. Here’s a sampling of what they had to say:
On voting (or not)
Gabriella Boltseridge, 17: “I’m really close to being able to [vote]. My birthday is on Nov. 28 so I just miss it. I was really upset about it because I’m turning 18 this year. It’s really scary to have people in these high-power positions who are so much older than you and they’re trying to decide what’s gonna happen for your future and you just don’t get a say in it because you’re just not there yet.”
Ben Greb, 18: “I think that this is more than just this four-year term. I think that the Republican Party is prepping JD Vance to run in 2028. For me, personally, I am a Republican. I do like the ideology that [former President Donald] Trump has. And I think that JD Vance will be a very good candidate for the 2028 election if he does run. As a senior in high school not going to college, I'm going straight into trade school, I think that this election is going to shape my future.”
On what may lie ahead
Ainsley Bourbeau, 16: “One of the biggest things about this election is that it kind of sets a precedent for how we move forward. Because this is the one of the first times we’ve had a felon running for office. And like, that’s about character. This is the face of our country and having someone who has been charged with crimes at the head of that creates a bad image for us as a country and is a poor representation of us as people. This is also a super high-stakes election ‘cause there’s a lot of big issues on the ballot and there’s a lot of Supreme Court seats that could be up for grabs during the four-year term.”
On immigration
Lyliette Guzman Chavez, 17: “One of the most important things is immigration. I'm an immigrant myself from Cuba. So while I think that immigration policies do need a lot of reform, the way immigrants are being dehumanized and attacked by some of our politicians is really discouraging. I think that being hateful is the easy road and, you know, having empathy and compassion takes a lot more work. And that's just something that a lot of our politicians are not doing when it comes to immigrants. The process, the actual process for applying to move to the United States is very difficult and it takes a very long time and a lot of people do not have that time. I mean, no one wants to leave their country. I can tell you that. My parents didn't want to leave. I didn't want to leave. But there's just situations where people have no other option. And then they're penalized for illegally coming to the country, but there is nothing else they can do a lot of the time.”
On reproductive rights and applying to college
Aileen Liu, 17: “I’ve never left Connecticut, but if I do plan on leaving it, I don’t think I could ever choose to live in a state that would deny me access to health care. I decided to apply to schools in states where abortion is legal rather than illegal.”
Isaiah Gonzalez, 17: “I would say my biggest concern would probably be abortion, as well with freedom of choice. I mean, not like I can have a baby! But I got family members and friends that have been affected by it and I could only imagine what would happen if they didn't have said choice.”
On transgender rights
Charlie Heng Litrico, 17: “These two candidates are just so wildly different in their views and particularly in the case of Donald Trump. He’s very clearly quite extreme with many of them. And something that definitely gets thrown around a lot especially in rhetoric and in things like Project 2025 is transgender rights in this country. As a transgender student myself and still a minor, the fact that just all over the country I’m seeing the rights of other transgender people just slowly stripped away more and more and more with so few people willing to stand up for them and protect them. And in the future when I am able to vote I will definitely be voting because when I vote it's not going to be just voting for a candidate, it's going to be voting for my life.”
On being in the middle
Lincoln Kelly, 17: “If I’m being honest, I’m very in the middle. My family, for example, is on both sides. Half of my family is left, half of my family’s right. So, for me, I’ve always just grown up being kind of being in the middle and trying to be persuaded. It's hard being in the middle.”
