Conventional wisdom suggests voters under 30 years of age are more progressive in their thinking, and that when it comes time to cast ballots during the 2024 election cycle, they’ll generally choose Democratic candidates.
But if a sampling of young Oklahoma voters is any indication, former President Donald Trump can count on their help in his quest to reclaim the White House.
News staffers across the landscape of CNHI Oklahoma – which includes 14 newspapers – fanned out over the past couple of weeks, interviewing young voters about their issues and preferences. As with older adults, border security and the economy are their top concerns, and many believe Trump is the answer to their problems. A few, while saying they’ll vote for President Joe Biden, will do so reluctantly.
Adriana Elliott, 27, of Tahlequah, works with her father, veterinarian Bill Elliott, but she went to college for a degree in medical research.
“I’m disappointed the Democratic Party couldn’t produce a candidate other than Joe Biden. I’m a registered Democrat and I didn’t vote for Biden in the primaries,” she said, adding that the greatest danger to democracy is “75-year-olds in office.”
Lylah Chaffin, 19, works at Windmill Boutique in Tahlequah, and she believes Joe Biden has hurt the economy. She supports Donald Trump.
“I like the things he says,” Chaffin said. “I felt safe in my environment [when Trump was in office] and didn’t feel like there are as many problems as now, in the U.S. in general. I feel there wasn’t as much crime as there is now.”
She doesn’t necessarily think a president should get immunity for possible criminal behavior in office.
“I think everybody needs to be held responsible for their actions. But I know [a relative] is in prison right now, so is a felon. People can change, as long as they are able to take responsibility for their actions and prove they are different,” Chaffin said.
Sayler Strader, 21, also works in a Tahlequah retail shop, Junie’s Closet. Crime and the border crisis are her most important issues.
“Our law enforcement is not respected, so how can we expect them to do their job? How can we expect to keep kids safe at school when we are constantly showing them all the reasons why they should disobey?” she said.
She said a 17-year-old coworker is afraid to go to her car at night.
“I can’t leave my car and not feel like I have to have a knife in my car,” Strader said. “And I’m not very confident that if I pick up the phone and I make a report it will be taken as seriously as it needs to be, because we are getting so desensitized.”
Kimberly Boles is a 19-year-old student at Northwestern Oklahoma State University in Enid. She has voted in local and state elections and the presidential preference primary, but this fall will be her first chance to cast a ballot for state and federal offices in a general election.
Boles has three top issues that motivate her. First is the Biden administration’s handling of the nation’s southern border, with people from Mexico, Latin American countries and elsewhere around the world who are “going right through our border” and entering the U.S. illegally.
“Biden claims that he’s wanting to protect the border but he isn’t enforcing any of the laws or letting [Texas] Gov. Abbott take his stance that he needs to to protect his state,” Boles said. “Another [issue] for me would be inflation, with how grocery prices are going up and everything’s going up.”
Boles also takes a firm anti-abortion stance. She believes the national policy and laws should be pro-life and no one should have the choice to abort a “living baby.” Life begins at conception, she said, and the nation’s laws need to reflect that.
“On Ukraine, I believe we should be taking more of an isolationist approach, because we shouldn’t be sending most of our money to a foreign country when we can barely have Americans sustain ourselves,” Boles said.
Boles, a Republican, said she supports former President Trump and voted for him in the presidential preference primary. Although she is a university student, she does not support Biden’s plans to forgive student loans.
“I don’t believe students should be taking out thousands and thousands of dollars for a big-name school just so they can have a degree from there and then expect the government to pay that off,” she said.
Jacob Young, a freshman at Northern Oklahoma College in Enid, is a registered Republican. The economy and national security are most important to him.
“There’s been a lot of complaints going around about the economy and how it’s pretty much fallen apart. Things are getting more expensive, harder to afford,” he said. “Right now, I’m living paycheck to paycheck, and I can’t even afford to move out of my mom’s house, which really sucks, but that’s just life.”
He thinks there should be an age limit on certain offices.
“I just think old people in office that are out of touch with the younger generation and the majority of the population in general,” he said. “It’s just like you don’t know about us, you don’t care about us.”
Young also believes the push toward “clean energy” is flawed.
“In Oklahoma… we are not going to get away from natural gas, we’re not going to get away from oil. We’ve tried going 100% clean energy and everything, but there have always been flaws with the systems,” he said. “What happens when the windmills freeze and stop spinning? Or like when we have solar power, the sun doesn’t shine 24/7, it’s not the most efficient.”
He admits he votes along party lines.
“Honestly, I wish there was a better candidate to vote for. I don’t really agree with either of them 100% or even close to that, but it is what it is,” he said.
Bruce Trammell, a 20-year-old Republican from Ninnekah, is an avid voter and a former legislative intern.
Trammell, a student at Oklahoma State University, became interested in politics in 2016. While he was too young to vote at the time, he said he rooted for Republican candidate Ted Cruz. However, after Trump captured the Republican nomination, Trammell’s opinion shifted.
“When Donald Trump was the nominee and continued his campaign, I then [saw] a spark in him that I didn’t see before for America, and I then knew outsiders belonged in politics,” Trammell said.
He decided to join Dick Lowe, who is now an Oklahoma state representative, to knock on thousands of doors during Lowe’s campaign. He describes working as an in-session intern at both the Oklahoma State Capitol and the nation’s capitol in Washington, D.C., as “life-changing experiences.”
Trammell said he does not see enough political involvement among his peers.
“Being a college student, it isn’t uncommon to engage in a conversation over politics. However, whether you’re engaging in a conversation with a Republican or Democrat, from my experience, not only do they not vote, but they’re not even registered to vote. I find this very unsettling,” he said.
Trammell has not missed an election since he turned 18, and he will be voting for Trump Nov. 5, “without hesitation.” He feels Trump embraced a strong America that was for all citizens during his presidency. Moreover, he believes Trump is the only candidate who can beat Biden.
Trammell said Biden’s economic policies have contributed to the debt of future generations of his family.
“I think anyone who loves this country and who wants to build a family and work life here, they need to investigate what Biden has done to our financial stance. Donald Trump is also a leader to call out ones who threaten our nation from afar and the ones who display hate here in our own country,” Trammell said.
Trammell believes there should be an age limit on all federal offices.
“As a young American, I believe that we could have better, younger, and more competent candidates on both sides in this election. I would say that currently I do not feel well-represented as an American, as our country is a laughingstock abroad due to our current leaders. However, I have hope for a new leader and I pray that they are grounded in faith and make the decisions that are best for us citizens, not themselves,” Trammell said.
Emily Trostle, 21, is a Duncan Republican, and she is not happy with the candidates.
“I wish they could get some younger candidates, but anytime there are younger candidates, they usually drop out,” she said. “My main concern is how candidates will consider the younger generation when making decisions on gun laws and abortion laws. It feels like I don’t have much of a say, to be honest.”
Micah Miller, 29, of Bridge Creek, is also a Republican who will be voting for Trump. She would like to see border security addressed in the 2024 election.
“The last four years, there really hasn’t been much of that,” she said. “Really just what’s going on around us with the economy and with the world.”
Leah Bowman, 22, of Newcastle, is an independent voter. The state of the economy and border security are her two main concerns, and the presidential election makes her nervous. She said she will be voting for Trump.
Tanner Bowman, 24, a Marlow Republican, doesn’t necessarily think a younger person would make a good candidate. He’s concerned with the individual’s values.
“Right now, I’m pretty disappointed in how everything is going,” Bowman said.
He wishes the polls would be more secure.
“They need to make everybody show an ID and do away with the mail-in voting,” Bowman said.
Stillwater resident Brittney Caudell, 32, is part of the LGBTQ+ community. She works as a barber and cosmetologist at EM – a restaurant, clothing store, barbershop, bar and venue rolled into one. She said she’s not voting for Biden in 2024, and said the economy was better off when Trump was in office. She said there must be a balance in how the U.S. deals with border security and immigration.
Mark Ewing, also of Stillwater, said he leans to the left on some issues, but is conservative on gun rights. He acknowledges that while the U.S. has some liberties other countries don’t, he feels health care may be better elsewhere.
“I would definitely say health care as a whole hasn’t made a ton of progress for the better, and especially for maternity leave, which was my wife Bailey’s experience,” he said. “She’s working in the public sector and she had limitations with maternity leave that you don’t have in other countries.”
At Claremore High School, students were asked to weigh in on the election. They, like their peers elsewhere, are worried about the economy and border security.
Elizabeth Reedy is 17 and a senior, but she’ll be able to vote in the presidential election. She believes the U.S. is spending too much money, and that the future of democracy may be in jeopardy.
“The politicians are all for keeping [democracy] up, yet hating one another to get it done their way,” she said.
She called border security a “joke.”
“[The U.S.] should allow the people from wherever they are coming to enter the country, and we shouldn’t pressure them to stay out,” Reedy said.
Teresa Knapp, 18, is a senior, and is already registered to vote. She thinks federal spending is out of control.
“The Congress and the president are spending America’s money and placing America deeper in debt. From the borders, to the Israel War, to everything that is happening, [they] spend millions of our dollars that I think we should end,” she said.
Knapp could “possibly” cast her ballot for Biden, but as a protest vote.
“Biden will lose. Trump looks likely to be the winner,” she said. “I don’t want Biden to win and I don’t want Trump to win. It appears that by giving away my vote is the only way I can protest the election of either one.”
Bipartisan cooperation is the only thing that will preserve the country, she added.
Zaber Matin, an 18-year-old senior, lists border security as a main concern.
“There are too many people coming across; this needs to be cut way back or shut down,” Matin said. “Prices continue to rise, and to what end? We need to take control of this issue and cut the pricing to the people back to reality.”
Jay Arkie is 18 and is president of the Young Democrats Club at the high school, and she is ready to vote.
“The Israel-Hamas war shouldn’t even be titled that anymore; it is the Israelis and Palestinians that are at war, and between them they have created this battleground and killing of 30,000 people in the Middle East,” Arkie said.
She takes issue with the “fear mongering” by politicians now in office.
“The people at the borders are being picked on by Congress … all to convince the rest of the country to hate the people coming,” she said. “In reality, there are so few people who have come across with ill intent; the majority are people trying to make their best lives in the U.S.,” Arkie said.
Like her classmates, Arkie is not comfortable with either major-party candidate.
“Joe Biden is too old and Donald Trump is too crooked,” she said.
Writers from the Chickasha Express Star, Claremore Progress, Duncan Banner, Enid News & Eagle, Stillwater News Press and Tahlequah Daily Press contributed to this report.
