Although it’s a midterm election, more TCC students say they intend to vote this election season, with almost half of them being first-time voters, according to a districtwide poll conducted by The Collegian.
Of the 76 students surveyed, 80% said they plan to vote, with 49% voting for the first time.
The largest issue that is driving students to polls is affordability by 42.1%, including the price of gas.
“The economy is really high right now. Gas prices are around $3.80. I remember [when] it was around $2.20,” TR student Gerizane Kassa said. “It’s irritating.”
Conservative-leaning TR student Avery Heath said she worries that some candidates will raise taxes.
“Taxes are a big thing, especially because I want to start looking at apartments and stuff, and I don’t want to pay high taxes,” she said.
Another issue on students’ radars is immigration, with 16% of the students surveyed saying it is their primary concern.
TR student Chris Guerrero is a child of immigrants and said immigration concerns are on his mind when deciding who to support as he votes for the first time.
“All these immigration laws, all these problems that they’re causing, that’s one of the reasons why I decided to vote this year,” he said.
NE student and first-time voter Aaron Hatch is also concerned with the immigration laws being implemented, which is one of the reasons he plans to vote for state Rep. James Talarico for U.S. Senate.
“I’m personally not a fan of how the current administration is running things,” he said. “I’m very against the wrongful detainment, violence, and deportation against immigrants who some of the times are even documented citizens.”
Education is the biggest concern for 8% of survey respondents.
NE student Kaden Connolly is going to school to become a public-school teacher, and he said the state of the education system in Texas has him worried about his future.
“Public schools have been suffering under the control of Greg Abbott, and it is important to me that some changes are made for the betterment of public schools,” he said. “I believe that [Gina] Hinojosa has the ability to really make a change for the better in Texas, especially for public schools. Abbott has absolutely gutted public school funding, whereas Hinojosa plans on helping public schools instead of harming them.”
When deciding on a candidate, 18% of students said they value truthfulness.
“Honesty is a big thing. I don’t agree with someone who does a lot behind their constituents’ back,” Heath said. “I think you need to be honest with who you’re representing because it’s ‘We the People’ not ‘We the Congress.’”
Managing editor Jordan Hoyt and campus editors Isabel Riggenbach and Madison McCarthy contributed to the reporting of this story.
