Her Campus is on tour! In partnership with Future Caucus and DoSomething, the Her Campus Voices: Election 2024 Tour is coming to college campuses around the country to host conversations with students to get their insights and opinions as we approach the November election. Next up is the University of Central Florida. Here’s what one UCF Knight had to say about why she’s voting red this fall.
Gen Z is known for a lot of things, from TikTok dances, to digi cam pictures, to memeing everything. But this generation is also known for its political involvement — specifically, its liberal leanings. According to a 2023 Statista survey, this generation is trending far more progressive than past generations, with 39% of 18-29-year-olds identifying as Democrats, 29% identifying as Independents, and only 14% affiliating with the Republican party. This trend is apparent when it comes to who young people plan to vote for in the upcoming presidential election, too; in an August 2024 survey conducted by Her Campus, 66% of respondents said they plan to vote for Vice President Kamala Harris, compared to the 26% who plan to vote for former president Donald Trump. (The remaining 8% said they were undecided.)
But just because the number of Republicans — and Trump supporters, specifically — appear to be smaller among Gen Z, they’re not insignificant. So, what issues are driving their votes, and how do they feel about sharing their views with their peers? At the Oct. 3 Her Campus Voices: Election Tour 2024 stop at Orlando’s University of Central Florida, a group of 10 students shared their thoughts on the upcoming election. One of them, Nina F.* — a politically active member of the UCF community — shares why she’s choosing to vote for Trump.
“I’m going to go against the grain here,” Nina tells the group, most of whom said they planned to vote for Harris, during the roundtable discussion. “I am a Trump supporter and I really do like Donald Trump … I’ve been to one of his rallies and he’s a really genuine and funny person.”
As a senior about to enter the working world, Nina cites the economy as an issue that heavily influences her vote, and she believes voting red will bring her more prosperity. “We’ve been seeing a very high cost of living and inflation in the job market — it’s just so frustrating, especially as college students who are about to graduate,” Nina says. “I think it’s very important that we have somebody in office who will help facilitate a lower cost of living, less taxes, and overall a more stable economy.”
She also believes Trump, whose campaign promises to “revitalize police departments,” will help make the country safer. “Crime is everywhere, and I think that is a big problem,” she says. “A lot of people don’t even feel safe in their communities anymore. I think that when you’re more strict on [crime], regular people that are just trying to live their lives can feel safer, and that’s very important.”
In speaking about crime, Nina also discusses the U.S. immigration policies, and how Trump’s stance on the Mexican border ties into her safety concerns. “We can’t have a country if our border is just open and we just let anybody in,” she says. “I think that’s a huge security issue and something that will affect us in the future as well.”
This said, Nina acknowledges why some of her peers don’t share her pro-Trump views. “I was very hesitant to support him in the earlier part of his campaigns,” she says. “He is definitely not perfect in any sense of the word, and I can understand why a lot of people are very hesitant to support him.”
Nina says she loves talking about politics, but she’s also very aware of the tension surrounding political conversations these days. Therefore, she’s cautious about sharing her opinions with people she doesn’t know well. “If I don’t know where they stand compared to me, it’s kind of like I’m rolling dice, so that’s kind of nerve-wracking sometimes,” she says. “I usually only talk about it if I am close with the person, I know that they stand in line with me, or if I know that they’re kind of in the middle and I kind of want to convince them and tell them why I’m voting for this person.”
Political affiliations aside, there was one topic discussed during the roundtable that everyone agreed with, Nina included: The country’s political landscape lacks peace and respect. “I think that respectful political debate has been something that’s been lost in our country, especially within the past few years,” she says. She thinks Gen Z has the power to find much-needed common ground.
“With politics, everything seems really serious all the time, but I love our ability to make memes and make little songs, just finding the humor of it all,” she says. “I think that brings us together — just being passionate and enjoying talking about these topics.”
*Name has been changed.