The 2024 Presidential Election: A Turning Point for the Country

The 2024 Presidential Election featured an extraordinary amount of build-up and anticipation. A result favoring either Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris or Republican nominee former President Donald Trump would have had vastly different outcomes for the future of the country. Into the late hours of election night, it became more evident that the Republican Party had secured a major victory in all facets. While only a small portion of the Walls student body can vote this year, living in Washington, DC, any result would have a very close-to-home impact on our lives for the next four years.

The result comes after an unprecedented election cycle, marked by President Joe Biden’s late exit from the race in July and his subsequent replacement by Vice President Kamala Harris. Harris’ nomination marked a dramatic shift in the energy of the election, with her campaign raising record-breaking funds boasting over $1 billion in donations. Meanwhile, Trump primarily financed his campaign through a handful of billionaire donors. Trump selected Ohio Senator J.D. Vance as his running mate despite Vance having openly criticized Trump–like many other high-profile Republicans–before switching sides. Harris nominated Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, who gained popularity after calling Trump and Vance “weird” for many of their personal questions and critiques of the Democratic ticket.

This election, touted as “the election which would decide the future of our democracy”, was hotly contested to the end. Both sides fought desperately to win the seven crucial swing states, with Pennsylvania being the top priority given its staggering 19 electoral votes. After a nerve-wracking night for America, the Associated Press (AP) called the race at 4:34 AM ET on November 6th, confirming that Republican nominee Donald J. Trump had won the state of Wisconsin and, ultimately, the presidency. Trump also won the popular vote, a feat he did not accomplish in 2016, and took all seven key battleground states. The Republicans also gained majorities in both the Senate and the House. With Republican control of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches, Trump will likely have the ability to enact his plans with little friction. Many Walls students feel strongly about the result.

Students are scared and worried about the potential consequences of a second Trump presidency. A freshman disappointed with the outcome said, “I’m appalled at the number of people who voted for him again. While in 2016, some people were ashamed to vote for Trump due to his overt racist, sexist, and homophobic beliefs, supporters embraced these traits this election, even taking pride in his status as a convicted felon.” An anonymous senior, also shaken by the result, offered context as to why so many Americans would vote for Trump: “Outside of our blue DC/big city bubble, there are a lot of people who are far less open-minded than we think.”

Many Walls students are deeply concerned for a variety of reasons. Bailey McFadden (‘25) shared, “I’m concerned that my rights as a queer woman will be taken away. More specifically, I’m afraid that I’ll lose access to the right to marry who I want and the right to reproductive healthcare (including contraception). I’m also afraid that Trump’s economic plans will bankrupt the country just as I am entering the workforce.” Other students are worried about climate change goals not being met, the fate of world conflicts and international power dynamics, the potential loss of power for the local DC government, the future of rights for marginalized groups, and Trump’s threats to mobilize the military against Democratic adversaries.

Polls tried to predict the outcome for months, but most expected a nearly 50-50 election, with polls calling Pennsylvania a toss-up going into election night. Jackson Miller (‘27) predicted a Democratic win: “I thought Kamala Harris was going to win because she appeals to a lot of the voter base that hasn’t been mobilized before, while Donald Trump has a strong voter core. Some of his policies are very far-right, and his support of abortion bans alienated certain voters.” The big Trump victory, however, did not come as a surprise to Miles Bishop (‘27), who said that the Democratic Party needs more charismatic candidates to compete with Trump’s ability to gain support. An anonymous freshman was surprised by the number of people who voted for Trump, citing, “Trump is simply a white man who only cares for himself and not women, immigrants, or any other ethnicity.”

For many Washingtonians, this election was nerve-wracking, not just because of the future of the United States but also due to concerns over potential violence, which felt like a real possibility given the experience of the 2020 election. Many students expressed worries about a potential repeat of January 6th if Harris had won. However, after Trump’s major victory, few expressed concerns about such violence. Ada Eversmann (‘28) said, “I’m not really worried about anything happening now, like a protest or revolt. But I am worried about these next four years.”

Beyond the presidency, DC voters, including some Walls students, voted on Initiative 83. The proposed initiative would introduce ranked-choice voting and allow registered independents to vote in primaries. Ranked-choice voting works by giving all of the votes for the candidates who received the fewest votes to the second-choice candidate indicated on the ballot. This ensures that the elected candidate generally has approval from at least 50%+1 of the population.

Allowing independents to vote in primaries is particularly significant in DC, where a large number of residents are required to register as independents due to their job in the city. Make All Votes Count DC reported that “1 in 6 DC voters are blocked from voting in primary elections” because they register as independents. In a city with a very high percentage of liberal voters, the Democratic primary often effectively determines who will win the office. Allowing independents to vote in these crucial primaries gives more representation to a politically underrepresented group.

Amory Smith (‘26) had a positive view of allowing independents to vote in DC primaries, saying, “[I have] an independent dad and a Republican mom, so I’m glad that both of them will actually be able to vote in the DC elections. It’s also a lot less pressure on me (I’m planning not to join a party), because without 83, the Democratic primary was basically the whole election, so I would have had to join the Democratic Party to actually have a vote.”

With Donald Trump as president and a Republican congressional majority, it’s likely that few guardrails will remain in place at least until the midterms, and possibly for the next four years. Based on promises made during the campaign, we can expect the Trump administration to increase tariffs on foreign goods, adopt a harsher stance on immigration, increase natural gas production, introduce tax cuts for corporations, remove DEI programs in schools, limit abortion access, and change the status of relations with foreign powers.

For most Walls students, the most immediate impacts will likely come from increased tariffs on imports, which will raise prices on international goods. According to the Peterson Institute for International Economics, these tariffs could cost the average middle-class household $1,700 a year. While intended to create more domestic jobs, the tariffs, paired with mass deportations and millions of job openings today, may not lead to enough labor to fill all the new positions, making the potential domestic economic boost unlikely.

During his last presidency, Trump significantly disrupted Washington, DC, evident in Harris’ winning 92.5% of the DC vote, which equates to 286,787 votes (with 92.7% of results reported). But with a majority of Americans believing he is the best presidential candidate right now, we’ll have to wait for the effects of his term in office, starting in late January 2025.