Across the United States, American communities are preparing for one of the most intense and anticipated elections in American history. American politics has had a tumultuous atmosphere in recent months across the board but especially in regards to the presidential election. Gibson Southern High School students and staff are just as in tune as the rest of the country is as politics have taken the forefront of many Americans’ minds in the recent months leading up to the election.
Gibson Southern staff and other local officials have recently encouraged students of age to register to vote and show up to the polls on Election Day. Many social studies teachers have especially expressed to students the importance of voting and staying informed on their officials.
“Voting is very important,” said United States Government teacher Kyle Brasher. “It’s important for us to get our voice heard, and that is the number one way we get our voice heard, by electing our officials to go represent us.”
Brasher stresses to students that they should be excited to participate in elections that impact the state of the country they live in. In preparing to vote, he advises students to give themselves plenty of time at the polls.
“Have fun with it and be excited,” Brasher said. “Get there and make sure you don’t rush it because the crowds can get crazy at times. I would imagine this year with the presidential election, it’s going to be that much crazier. So, just take it all in and block off a section of time where you have at least 30 to 40 minutes. It may not take that long, but just to be safe, block off the time to know that you can go get it done.”
Economics and Geography teacher Michael Priar encourages students to realize that who they vote for will ultimately impact their lives, so it is important to research the candidates well before voting.
“I think that they need to realize that who they vote for will affect their life in the short term, and in most cases, local elections have a bigger effect on people than national elections,” Priar said. “But, it all does matter. Gather as much information as you can and gather that information from credible sources.”
In a survey of more than 200 Gibson Southern students, 82% believe voting is very important or important. Half of the students report to somewhat pay attention to politics, while 30% of respondents don’t pay attention to politics a lot.
“I pay attention to politics because my family is very involved,” junior Loren Carl said. “I think voting is very important.”
The top three issues that students are concerned about include the cost of living, abortion and immigration. These are followed by taxes, healthcare and gun policies.
“Abortion is probably number one for me,” senior Mavery Chandler said. “Immigration and securing the border is another thing and probably the cost of living too.”
Of the 205 survey respondents, 159, or 76%, say they educate themselves about politics through social media. Half of the students cite television news and people they know as additional sources of political information. A minority use news applications and websites for information.
“I see a lot on social media and on TV,” junior Kynlee Reeves said.
“There’s a lot of information in the news and in commercials,” junior Rozlynn Thorne said.
For underage voters, a large majority report that they would vote in the 2024 election if they were of age. As far as party identification goes, underage Gibson Southern students identify largely with the Republican Party, about 65%. Approximately 20% identify with the Democratic Party, and 15% identify as third-party or independent.
“My family is Republican,” Carl said.
A large majority of those eligible to vote report that they will be voting in the 2024 election. About 75% of these first-time voters at Gibson Southern identify with the Republican Party and plan to vote a straight Republican ticket. Approximately 25% identify with the Democratic Party or another party and plan to vote a Democratic ticket or opt out of voting.
“I identify with the Republican Party,” Chandler said.
In the 2024 election, the candidates to take the office of the President of the United States have considerably different platforms. For the two major parties, the Republican nominee is former president Donald Trump and the Democratic nominee is current vice president Kamala Harris. Trump’s vice presidential running mate is Ohio Senator JD Vance and Harris’ vice presidential running mate is Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.
Trump was born in Queens, New York and is currently 78 years old. Trump is a former United States President, serving in the 2016-2020 term. Before becoming president, Trump graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in economics and was a businessman, real estate developer and reality television star. Trump has been convicted of criminal charges and faces more for denying the 2020 election results, his role in inciting the January 6, 2021 insurrection, fraud and others.
Trump has many plans in his agenda for his second presidential term. He plans to set into motion the largest deportation mission in U.S. history to remove illegal immigrants, implement and increase tariffs on imports, increase American energy production, finish building the wall along the U.S. and Mexico border, decrease taxes for American-based corporations, close the Department of Education and send educational work back to the states, replace the Affordable Care Act, reorganize and use the Department of Justice to target critics and many more.
Harris was born in Oakland, California and is 60 years old. She is the current Vice President of the United States, serving in the 2020-2024 term. She is the first woman to become vice president and is the highest-ranking female government official in United States history. Her previous experience in government includes serving as a United States senator, California attorney general and San Francisco’s district attorney.
Harris has many policy agendas and goals, including restoring abortion rights to women, providing tax credits to middle-class and low-income families, tackling the cost of groceries, healthcare, childcare, housing, rent and more, a bipartisan legal solution to securing the U.S. and Mexico border, improving the immigration system to better incorporate immigrants, lower energy costs while tackling the climate crisis and many more.
The third-party candidate for president is Chase Oliver of the Libertarian Party. Retired police officer and economist Mike ter Maat is his vice presidential running mate.
Oliver was born in Nashville, Tennessee and is 39 years old. Prior to his political career, he worked in the restaurant industry and the corporate maritime trade industry. He has been a nominee for the Libertarian Party in Georgia for the 5th Congressional District in 2020 and for the U.S. Senate in 2022.
Oliver’s main policy agendas include improving the pathway to citizenship for immigrants, withdrawing from all foreign conflicts, ending the war on drugs, cracking down on government overspending, removing over-regulations to improve healthcare, eliminating the Department of Education and sending educational regulation to the states, enforcing individual choice including restoring abortion rights and many more.
Note: The Braun campaign was contact for a photo but never responded. (Provided: Jennifer McCormick for Governor)
For Gibson County, Indiana, there are several local and state-level elections taking place for 2024. The elections which have two candidates competing include the races for a Governor, one Senator, one House Representative for District 8, an Attorney General, a County Commissioner for District 3 and South Gibson School Board Member in District 2.
The candidates for Governor of Indiana in the 2024 election are running on distinct platforms. The major party candidates include Republican Mike Braun and Democrat Jennifer McCormick. The third-party candidate is Libertarian Donald Rainwater.
Braun’s lieutenant governor running mate is pastor and small business owner Micah Beckwith. Braun was born in Jasper, Indiana and is 70 years old. He received a Master’s degree in Business Administration from Harvard Business School. He spent his early career as a main street entrepreneur before serving in the U.S. Senate from 2018 to 2024. Braun’s main policy agendas include improving education, restricting gender identity topics in schools, allowing parental input on content in schools, growing the number of high-paying jobs, taking a pro-life stance on abortion and others.
Jennifer McCormick’s lieutenant governor running mate is former public school superintendent and Indiana House Representative Terry Goodin. McCormick was born in New Castle, Indiana. She has three college degrees from three different colleges, the highest being a Ph.D. in educational leadership. She spent her early career as a special education and language arts teacher before becoming a principal and then a superintendent. She then served as the last elected State Superintendent of Public Instruction from 2017 to 2021. McCormick’s main policy agendas include defending and investing in public education, supporting high-wage jobs and labor unions, demanding responsible government and tax spending, protecting reproductive rights and freedoms, environmental protections, sustainable energy, affordable healthcare for all, safe communities with gun regulations, investing in rural Indiana, protecting democracy and more.
Rainwater’s lieutenant governor running mate is real estate broker and previous Congressional candidate Tonya Hudson. Rainwater was born in Indianapolis, Indiana. He graduated from Bob Jones University and became a software engineer. This is his second consecutive run for governor of Indiana in the Libertarian Party. He received the highest total vote of any Libertarian candidate in Indiana’s history in the 2020 race. Rainwater’s policy agenda includes reducing various taxes, making public schooling more affordable, giving parents more say in children’s education, focusing on public services, reducing government spending, taking a pro-life stance on abortion and many more.
The candidates for Indiana Senator include Republican Jim Banks, Democrat Valerie McCray, and Libertarian Andrew Horning. The candidates for Indiana Attorney General include Republican Todd Rokita and Democrat Destiny Wells. The candidates for the House Representative for Congressional District 8 include Republican Mark Messmer, Democrat Erik Hurt, and Libertarian K. Richard Fitzlaff. The candidates for District 3 County Commissioner include Republican Chuck Lewis and Democrat Warren Fleetwood. Benson Davenport and Paige Rohrer are competing for a seat in the South Gibson District 2 school board.
If you wish to see the full ballot, the Indiana Voters Portal on IN.gov provides a list of all the candidates. Go to “who’s on the ballot” and enter in your information for access.
You can find more information about where your polls are located and their hours on the Indiana Voters Portal on IN.gov. To find your polling location, click on “find your polling place,” enter your information in and proceed to your portal.
If you are interested in looking at early voting data or polls for the 2024 election, many news sources are providing live and updated coverage.
For polls, you can go to the following links to relatively unbiased sources:
https://www.270towin.com/2024-presidential-election-polls/
https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/polls/president-general/2024/national/
https://www.realclearpolling.com/latest-polls
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/us/elections/polls-president.html
For early voting data, you can go to the following links to relatively unbiased sources:
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-elections/early-vote
