Republican nominee Donald Trump won the 2024 presidential election, defeating Democratic nominee and Vice President Kamala Harris. As of Tuesday Nov. 19, 2024, the total tally showed that Trump received over 76 million votes (50 percent) vs almost 74 million for Harris (48.3 percent) of the overall popular vote. More critical, Trump secured 312 of the electoral votes while Harris had only 226. In U.S. elections, the candidate who achieves 270 Electoral votes is deemed the winner.
The U.S. presidential election system is different from many other countries in that the popular vote is not the determining factor. Instead, the U.S. uses a system where each state has a designated number of electors. The number of electors allocated to each state is based on the state’s number of representatives in the House, plus their two senators. For example, California, with a population of around 40 million, has 54 electoral votes while North Dakota, with a population of around 780,000, has three.
At Berkeley High School, students shared their reactions to the election results.
Caspar Rees, a BHS sophomore, voiced his frustrations, particularly regarding concerns related to his identity. As a gay immigrant, he expressed concern around the outcome of this election, particularly with the rise of policies from the Trump campaign that have often targeted LGBTQIA+ rights and immigrants. “I wouldn’t necessarily say I feel endangered, but I definitely feel marginalized and a little bit worried that I will not be able to marry the person I love because of the outcome of this election,” Rees said. Rees says he also fears deportation despite living in the U.S. for eight years.
For Madi Rosequist, a BHS sophomore, the issue of climate change was important. “He doesn’t want to do anything to help it,” she said. Rosequist believes misogyny and racism directed at Harris’ identity played a role in her loss.
Neela Marchesini, a BHS sophomore, shared her disappointment but remains hopeful for future change. “I’d like people to give a female president a chance,” she said. Marchesini also believes gender bias played a major role in Harris’s loss.
The students also commented on the broader implications of the election. Rees emphasized the importance of abortion rights and maintaining social safety nets. Meanwhile, Rosequist worried about the long-term consequences of Trump’s policies, particularly for women and immigrants. “My mom’s an immigrant, and she doesn’t have a citizenship, and even though she’s documented and everything, it’s still so terrifying that she could just, like, be sent away,” Rosequist said.
Typically each party has certain states that always vote for them; for example California has voted for a Democrat for president since 1992. Similarly, Texas has voted for a Republican for president since 1980. At the beginning of this election, it was fairly certain that Harris was going to have 226 electoral votes and Trump would have 219 electoral votes due to the states already strongly favoring one party over the other.
This means that elections are usually won by the candidate who is able to get a majority of the so-called “swing states,” which, this election cycle, included another 93 electoral votes. Whoever gets most of those votes is able to achieve the 270 vote total needed. The swing states for the 2024 presidential election cycle were Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
Harris hoped to win at least three of the swing states: Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan, which would have given her the 270 electoral votes needed to win. These states often vote Democratic (as they did in the 2020 election for Joe Biden). Harris did not win any of the swing states, and Trump was the overall victor.
There has been extensive debate about why Harris did not succeed in the states Biden had won before.
For the roughly 40 million women who voted for Harris, one motivator was Trump’s plan to substantially restrict abortion rights, according to Rosequist. “It’s just like, if you’re sexually assaulted and you don’t have access to abortion, there’s no coming back from that,” Rosequist said, “And that’s just scary that that’s a possibility, and the fact that it’s happening to a bunch of other victims in America.” Rosequist’s concerns highlight the fear many feel about the future of reproductive rights under the new administration.
Rosequist’s fears were echoed by a student led walkout organized by the BHS Sunrise club in response to Trump’s reelection. Ending with a statement of encouragement, Rosequist shared, “I really hope that our generation starts to speak out more. I think that we have a lot of hope, because I think that our generation is very ambitious … There’s so many amazing people who I know for a fact are going to be able to achieve really crazy and good things.”