For Zander Pitrus, a junior and president of Duke College Republicans, President-elect Donald Trump’s victory marked a moment forcing Democrats to recognize the “elitism” that runs through their party.
“Working-class people are so tired of the establishment and the elitism, they want somebody who's going to stand up for their rights, for their ability to provide for themselves,” he said.
The conclusion of the 2024 presidential election marked the end of a heated campaign cycle defined by the unusual rise of Vice President Kamala Harris to the top of the Democratic ticket, a surge in political violence and a slew of legal cases facing the Republican candidate.
With the electoral votes fully distributed, Trump secured 312 in comparison to Harris’ 226 — capturing all seven swing states. As of 11 p.m. Sunday, he also led the popular vote 50.4% to 48%.
However, in contrast to Pitrus’ excitement, Trump’s decisive victory was not viewed with the same energy by many other Duke students and Durham residents — several of whom expressed worries for their rights under a MAGA presidency.
First-year Christopher Tarro, while nervous about Trump winning the election, recognized that the results would likely not substantially alter his daily life. He explained how he felt “blessed” that his “rights aren't going to be abridged as a man, no matter who wins this election.” Still, he acknowledged that many women at the University might not feel that same sense of security.
“I'm glad that I didn't have to experience it, but I felt terrible for those who were feeling this anxiety about the election, about a lot of questions about their own bodily autonomy,” Tarro said.
He also noted that he was particularly concerned about Republicans having control of all three branches of the federal government. Although not all U.S. House of Representatives races have been called, as of 11 p.m. Sunday, the GOP led with 214 seats to the Democrats’ 203 with just 18 more races left undecided.
“We have a Republican Congress and now a Republican second-term president, which, historically speaking, second-term presidents are also more willing to take actions that are more politically polarized because they have no reason to appeal to moderate voters because they don't have to get reelected,” Tarro said. “So I'm worried that that might push some more uber conservative measures.”
However, he still expressed his hope that a Republican-controlled country will “strive for what the collective thinks is best.”
Britt, a member of the Socialist Alternative party, explained that they had voted for Green Party candidate Jill Stein because of the Biden-Harris administration’s record on the war in Gaza. Still, Britt stated that Trump would be “worse” than Harris on many issues.
“Trump is going to be worse for not just Americans who want abortion access, Americans who are trans or immigrants, but he’s going to be worse for the international community,” they said.
Allie Jackson, an attendee of the Wednesday “Rally for Gaza” in downtown Durham, also shared that she voted for Jill Stein despite knowing that, as a transgender woman, she might be negatively impacted.
“I'm a trans woman, and I have skin in this game too,” she said. “I just had a baby with my partner, and it was difficult, and we are potentially planning on trying to bring another human into the world in the future, so the abortion stuff directly affects me and my partner.”
Jessica, a Raleigh-Durham Lyft driver, described the range of emotions she has experienced since the election was called.
“I'm disappointed. I have spent today kind of just gathering my own thoughts about what the next four years could look like,” she said. “Up until this point, I hadn't really considered it, actually, because I thought [Harris] was going to win, and it's actually quite scary to think about what could happen. So that's kind of where I'm at right now. I haven't really processed all of it. It's been a crazy and pretty awful election cycle.”
In contrast to Jessica, Tarro predicted that Trump would win the election but was surprised by his overwhelming victory in both the Electoral College and popular vote, as well as Republicans’ performance in both the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate.
Like Tarro, Pitrus also predicted Trump would win the presidential election. He expressed the view that this election marks a moment where Duke will be forced to recognize conservative students on campus.
“To have a Republican president who wants to challenge the establishment also sends a big message for free speech on campus and to all these elitist institutions that, ‘sorry, your prevailing opinion is no longer prevailing, and you need to accept the fact that Republicans do exist,’” he said. “You need to be able to converse with them and engage in civil discourse and constructive disagreement.”
Following the election results, Pitrus noted that he felt more comfortable expressing his support for the GOP, choosing to wear his Make America Great Again hat for two days after the election. He said he was met with a few unpleasant stares, but he thought it was important for students to recognize that he wasn’t an anomaly, since Trump was “elected by over 50% of the American population.”
Trump was elected by over 50% of American voters, approximately 74.8 million as of Sunday at 11 p.m. The U.S. population is roughly 337.4 million, according to the U.S. Census.
Despite the results not swaying in the direction she had hoped, Jessica expressed the importance of having productive discussions and staying positive.
“[Although] a lot of people were disappointed and upset with the conclusion, there [were] a fair number of people, at least locals, who were really excited about the governor's race and were really excited about the flip with the Republican majority,” she said. “There was a little hope out there.”
Democrats won key elections in North Carolina, most notably Josh Stein in the gubernatorial race, and broke the Republican supermajority in the state House of Representatives.
Tarro emphasized the importance of elections, asserting that they “matter” and that “people [who] say they don’t are wrong.” However, he shared his hope in humanity and for the country to make it through the next four years.
“No matter if you're celebrating a victory or mourning a defeat, we'll make it through, and hopefully tomorrow will be a better day,” he said.
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Sarah Diaz is a Trinity first-year and a staff reporter for the news department.