Recently, The Northwest Passage held a poll to see who the students at Shawnee Mission Northwest would vote for president of the United States if they had the chance to — vice president Kamala Harris or former president Donald Trump. Harris beat Trump with the majority vote of 64.4% to 35.6%.

In the 2020 election, Johnson County voted for Joe Biden over Trump by a 53% to 44% margin. However, the state of Kansas’ six electoral votes went to Trump, not Biden, in 2020 and 2016. 

At Northwest, the results are news to some, yet others expected Harris’s win.  

Senior Jackson Weems, who voted for Harris, believes that Gen-Z is starting to lean more liberal than conservative. Weems feels that Harris is the right fit for our future.

As a Democrat himself, Weems is very interested in politics and has been since he did a mock election and voted for Barack Obama in elementary school — then went straight home, and cozied up with a CNN magazine to read more about labor unions. He’s been learning what he can about politics since then. 

“Government should really exist to expand rights of people,” Weems said. “I feel like the Democrat party does that the best.” 

Weems thinks women’s rights, LGBTQ+ rights and healthcare should all be improved and protected by the law. 

Senior Harniak Signh agrees with Weems. As a Democrat, he believes that gay marriage and LGBTQ+ rights are very important. Singh also wants immigration to be more efficient and reliable.

“My parents are immigrants, my family has been through the immigration system, it’s always been very slow,” Singh said. “I feel like would slow down immigration a lot more.”

Singh is also not surprised by the poll results. He feels that especially in the suburbs, younger voters are starting to become more liberal in their beliefs. Looking at the last presidential election where Johnson County voted for Biden, his assumptions are accurate. 

Based on the diversity of students and staff at Northwest, senior Mackenzie Farkes, the president of the Young Republicans club, anticipated the results. 

When she took the poll, Farkes voted for Trump. She agrees with his political standing, and not Harris’. 

“I’ve always had more Republican beliefs,” Farkes said. 

But Senior Adam Hageman is shocked. As an openly passionate Republican, he believes students’ opinions could be influenced by the media and people speaking against Trump. 

“Some major media organizations are blatantly against Trump and have a clear agenda of making him look bad,” Hageman said. “If that’s all the media someone consumes, they probably won’t favor him.” 

Both Farkes and Hageman want tax cuts and the economy to improve, as well as gas and energy prices to go down — all things Trump has been promising throughout his campaign.

“I think taxes are too high, I think gas prices are too high, I think groceries cost too much,” Hageman said. “And if gets elected, I think that will continue to happen.” 

As the actual presidential election rolls around, the school is buzzing with nervous energy — wondering who will become the president of the United States. 

Will it result like our poll, with Harris winning?

Or will it fall the opposite way with Trump?

We’ll all find out after Nov. 5. When those who can vote, will place their ballots in the box.