Temple students feel more enthusiastic to show up to the polls and support Vice President Kamala Harris after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race on July 21, according to a poll conducted by The Temple News between July 29 and Aug. 11.
More than 200 students shared their thoughts in the survey conducted by The Temple News on the upcoming election. 70% of Temple students supported Harris, while 17.2% supported Donald Trump. The survey found that 4.4% supported Independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. before he dropped out of the race and endorsed Trump on Aug. 23. As of the survey’s Aug. 11 closure, 7.9% of students remain undecided.
Jaiman Kondisetty, secretary of Temple University Democrats, believes the change in the Democratic nominee has engaged students.
“People are talking about it,” said Kondisetty, a junior risk management major. “They’re talking about their plan to vote on Election Day. They’re requesting their mail-in ballot. I think a lot of those people, maybe, before [Biden] dropped out, would have ended up forgetting to vote on Election Day, and now they’re more enthusiastic to.”
In light of Biden’s withdrawal from the race, 88% of students believe that Harris is a better fit for the Democratic nomination, TTN’s poll found.
“I’m definitely a part of the youth voters that got activated when Kamala announced she was running,” wrote a survey respondent. “Since Harris’ announcement, I registered to vote in PA (which is very easy btw) and now I’m excited to vote in my first election!”
Many responses to the survey noted Harris and the Democratic party as a means of prevention rather than a perfect solution.
“I am voting for Kamala Harris purely as harm reduction,” a survey respondent wrote. “Although I find her to be far too moderate, with her stances on things like criminal justice and foreign policy to be abhorrent, the damage to things like LGBTQ+ rights, the environment, social welfare, and many more that another Trump presidency could do is worth voting against him.”
Kondisetty supports Harris this election due to concerns about Trump’s integrity. In May, Trump was convicted of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. Trump accumulated $130,000 of hush money to keep voters in the dark about his infidelity around the time of the 2016 election.
“President Trump’s a convicted felon, along with [his] policy, things like abortion rights, the environment, just the entirety of Project 2025,” Kondisetty said.
Project 2025 would cut funding for renewable energy, restrict access to the abortion pill, mifepristone, and cut funds for Planned Parenthood. It was designed by The Heritage Foundation, an organization focused on establishing conservative values through the executive office.
For some, Project 2025 is not an issue because it is not endorsed by the Trump campaign and the former president has repeatedly condemned the operation. Others are worried, as many of those who worked on Project 2025 have worked for Trump in the past.
“Anyone voting for Kamala is uninformed and has fallen for the democratic fear-mongering such as Project 2025,” a survey respondent wrote.
About 72% of respondents noted that reproductive rights are a serious issue affecting their motivation to vote. But the survey found a difference in party priorities: while 89% of those supporting Harris felt this was important, only 26% of Trump supporters felt it is an important issue to vote on.
“I think women going through horrible situations deserve the kind of holistic support pregnancy centers provide in conjunction with pro-life medical professionals that care for both patients, not the option to kill,” one Trump supporting survey respondent wrote.
For Rose Morgan, a junior chemistry major, the fear is real. Abortion rights are her top reason for supporting Harris.
“I have a lot of health problems within my family and kind of scary situations in my family, that could have been a lot worse if these bans and such had been 10 years prior, and it’s scary that we’re going back to that,” Morgan said.
When Harris and Vice Presidential candidate Tim Walz visited The Liacouras Center in early August, they emphasized protecting reproductive rights.
At the same time, Morgan worries that reproductive rights are just a strategic talking point for the Democratic party.
“It’s going to be mentioned in every single ad, at least on Kamala Harris’ side,” Morgan said. “So as it keeps getting mentioned more and more, there has to be a statement from the Republican Party about it, and I’m honestly curious as to what they’re gonna say.”
JD Vance, the vice presidential candidate for the Republican Party, has recently emphasized that abortion rights should be at the discretion of the states.
According to the survey, reproductive rights are not the most important issue motivating Republicans to vote at Temple. Instead, 100% of Republican supporters felt the economy was a critical issue, followed by foreign policy with 74% of Republican responses.
“The last four years under Biden have been significantly worse than the four years before under Trump,” wrote one survey respondent who strongly disapproves of Biden’s presidency and believes the economy is an important issue.
In June 2022, the inflation rate was 9.6%. In July 2024, the inflation rate depreciated to 2.9%, but the peak of inflation may have left its mark.
Morgan, however, said she believes that the economy cannot be blamed on one factor, such as a president.
The survey revealed an overall approval rating of 35% for Biden and a disapproval rating of 40%. Disapproval came from not just Trump supporters — 30% of the disapproval rating came from Harris supporters.
75% of students who are undecided disapprove of Biden’s presidency. While many felt encouraged to vote following the change in candidacy, the disapproval for Biden could potentially affect Democratic voters’ decisions.
While 89% of students are sure they will vote in this election, 6% are undecided and 4% of students are unlikely to vote. Youth voter turnout will likely be crucial to the outcome of the election.
“I really feel that if young people show up to vote and show that they’re a sizable part of the electorate that actually swing an election, it’ll motivate politicians to work with us more and legislate for us, and not just older Americans,” Kondisetty said.
Another variable influencing voter turnout is the role of the executive office in foreign disputes, like the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Most respondents who expressed comments supporting Palestine were also undecided voters or declared they were not voting for a major candidate.
Nathan Mutale, a senior journalism major, believes that a vote still matters even when he disagrees with a politician on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“They are two sides of the same coin, and no matter who is elected as president, I don’t necessarily see either of them dealing with the current conflict any differently,” Mutale said. “I will say in terms of human rights, that one thousand percent I would put my support behind Kamala Harris opposed to Donald Trump.”
Mutale is also a producer for Love Now Media, which works with the Every Voice, Every Vote organization. Their goal is to ensure Philadelphian voices are uplifted in media and political campaigns.
“There’s no specific person we’re trying to push,” Mutale said. “There’s no specific agenda that we’re trying to push, per se, it’s more so just please go educate yourself, make your own decisions, vote or whatever, but please make those decisions.”
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