Alexandra Nisenoff

Students walking in the Quad.

Donald J. Trump officially won his bid for the 47th President of the United States early Wednesday morning, capping off a resurgent campaign focused on the economy and immigration. The Maroon spoke to self-identified Democratic and Republican students about their initial thoughts on the election results and the nation’s direction.

UChicago Democrats (UCDems) was active throughout election season, sending student cohorts to key swing states—Wisconsin and Michigan—on weekends leading up to November 5 to campaign for both Kamala Harris and Democratic seats in the House and Senate. UCDems Co-President and third-year Vera Chaudhry recognized the challenge Harris faced in securing the presidency but was nevertheless surprised by the nearly 4 million margin of difference in the popular vote.

“A lot of the conversations I’ve had have been kind of a surprise around Trump winning the popular vote,” Chaudhry said. “The Republican shift really shows that the last few years were difficult for a lot of people, making it hard for an incumbent like Harris to win the election.”

Second-year Akshay Kirthi, a self-identified Republican, expressed a sense of validation from the results of the presidential election, which he believes demonstrated that the Democratic Party is out of touch with the American majority. He believes the strength of Trump’s results reflected the domestic and economic priorities of the American people.

“[Democrats] have denigrated the American people for their choice in this election. They called the majority of this country sexist, bigoted, homophobic, deplorable, ignorant, and worse,” Kirthi said.

Similarly, fourth-year Hank Hyatt, who is a part of the leadership of College Republicans, felt the election results matched his prediction. “I definitely did believe Trump was going to win,” Hyatt said. “Personally, I’m very excited for the future.”

Both Chaudhry and Kirthi commented on the nationwide change in voting this election cycle. “In comparison to 2020, I think it shows there has been a large Republican shift,” Chaudhry said.

Kirthi saw this trend in a more optimistic light. “Fundamentally, the American people want change. They want a vision to grow the economy, close the border, end the wars around the world, and control the federal bureaucracy,” Kirthi said.

While much of the focus of this election season has been on the presidential race, both sides identified positive results in the smaller, more localized races, such as state Senate elections. For Chaudhry, Democratic Senate victories in Michigan (Elissa Slotkin) and Wisconsin (Tammy Baldwin) have helped her remain hopeful. “Sometimes, zooming in, it’s validating to know that there are smaller areas of hope and impactful elections that happened this season,” Chaudhry said.

Kirthi believes that with a Republican-controlled House, Senate, and presidency, there are more opportunities for Trump to follow through with his policies. Although the House majority has not been set yet, many project that Republicans will hold on to their majority.  “Trump will be able to take his agenda far further in 2024 because he knows who the bad actors are [in Washington], understands more clearly what his agenda has to be, and knows the personnel and the transition team [he needs] to help him achieve this goal,” Kirthi said. “Trump clearly will be able to implement a much more defined America First agenda.

The next presidential cycle provides a fresh opportunity for both sides to either realign or reaffirm their party’s goals and promises. Chaudhry highlighted the necessity for the Democratic Party to look internally and identify the priorities of young and working-class voters. “Aligning the Democratic Party with working-class people in America is really important,” Chaudhry said. “Democrats need to refocus on issues like the economy and immigration that are very winnable.”

Kirthi, too, sees this as a learning opportunity for the Democrats. “Look into the mirror and acknowledge why the American people didn’t buy into their vision this time,” Kirthi said. “The American people have given the Republican Party a mandate of trust to fully implement their vision, but this trust is contingent on good governance and delivering on promises.”