War in Gaza, Crime, Economy and Immigration Sway Voters

I’m worried about crime, economy, immigration, and most importantly the war in Israel. There are a lot of issues going in our own country, but we are caught up fighting a war in another country,” Rafi Akhand said. The 19-year-old sophomore architecture major at The City College of New York (CCNY) will vote for the first time in this election. “I’m not nervous but really thinking hard about who to vote for since I know my vote matters.”

On Staten Island, my father Cosmin Turlea, our apartment building’s superintendent, also thinks his vote is important. He was born in Eastern Europe and moved to the United States in 2005. This is his third election, and he sees a clear choice between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump. Voting for Harris he said, “… represents human values, fundamental rights to medical care, and also for being a pro-choice defender.”

My father, like others, questioned why Donald Trump and his supporters can not admit that Donald Trump lost the 2020 presidential election. “If there  hasn’t been any proof of elections being stolen there is a steady number of people in the country that keep getting manipulated by Trump’s rhetoric and I think that is extremely dangerous,” he said.

At CCNY not everyone agrees with my dad’s thinking. Fatma, an architecture student didn’t want to give her last name. She said, “I know very little to nothing about my candidates besides a few general details. I personally never cared. I know that’s not good because if I had to vote I wouldn’t know what I would be voting for.”

Her lack of engagement seemed surprising for a Gen Z student. She said that she has not thought about the value of staying informed or voting to protect things that she and her family value. “I know it’s not good that I’m not informed and it’s a personal choice at the end of the day,” she said.

In contrast, Mathew Rodriguez identifies as a leftist, socially and economically. “But not a communist,” he stressed. “I’m voting for Kamala because I agree with her politics such as rights to abortion, cheaper healthcare, investments in our public education, and more. But what plays a huge part is her vice president Tim Waltz. I like what he did in Minnesota such as forgiving student debt and giving free lunch for all public schools in Minnesota.”

Rodriguez does have some doubts about Harris. “I’m not the biggest supporter of Kamala because she supports the war in the Middle East. But I’m aware she’s making more of an effort to help people like me regarding healthcare and welfare. And my biggest hope is to see inflation decrease because it’s so much harder to live now paycheck to paycheck,” he said.

Architecture major Akhand finds his views changing. “I have always been leaning to the left since that’s the political direction our state and city is. As of right now, I am slightly shifting my values such as believing in harsher standards on crime which I feel like this city lacks. Aside from that I am all for migrants, and I believe Democrats allow for that,” she said.