Exonians React to 2024 Election Results

Courtesy of Forrest Zeng

By ANGELA HE, SHAY KASHIF, LILY RAMPE, MARVIN SHIM, and FORREST ZENG

On Tuesday, Nov. 5, eligible members of the Exeter community joined Americans nationwide in casting their votes for the 47th President of the United States. The atmosphere was tense as Exonians monitored their screens carefully for results for the local, state, and federal elections poured in through the night.

On Wednesday morning, the media declared definitively that former President Trump had won the election, defeating his Democratic opponent, current Vice President Kamala Harris. His victory comes after a tumultuous campaign season that included a last-minute Democratic nominee switch and two assassination attempts on the former President’s life. Polls leading up to the election underestimated the former President’s lead in crucial swing states, all seven of which he would eventually sweep.

In addition to converting the presidency, Republicans acquired a majority of Senate and House seats, flipping key seats in West Virginia, Ohio, and Montana. In short, the election was a Republican sweep of all three of the federal government’s elected chambers—the Presidency, House of Representatives, and Senate. It will give Republicans mostly uncontested control over the nation’s direction for the next few years. In essence, the landscape of American politics has been transformed.

On campus, Exeter’s Democratic and Republican Clubs organized an Election Watch Party, co-sponsored by Exeter Political Union. Republican Club cohead Olivia Braham said, “I’m just excited that I can be part of bringing this [event] to campus. I think that it’s really important to have a space where anyone with any type of political opinion can come and feel safe to share it. I think that this was a perfect way to do it. Co-hosting an event with Dem Club is the ideal situation, I think.”

Faculty advisor of the Democratic Club and Instructor in English Duncan Holcomb added, “The election night event was quite nice... Everyone was in a good mood, excited to see what would happen. There was no noticeable tension between political groups or individuals. Ms. Archambault bought some snacks for the Agora, and we set up the chairs to face the screen – that was about the extent of the set-up. The campus atmosphere has been positive and productive!” 

Braham stressed that Republican Club is not meant to be an active political club. “Republican Club is less a political action club as much as a discussion club. Every week we sit down and talk about different current events. So it’s not really a place for just Republicans. I think Dem Club is more for Democrats. They go out and they campaign. We don’t do that. We just discuss things, and so we have all different types of people that come to Republican club. We didn’t do any campaigning or any organization or anything like that, but we have definitely been talking about this election for months and months,” Braham said.

Meanwhile, the Democratic Club encouraged students to canvas and phone bank with Democratic candidates in the weekend leading up to the election. Democratic Club cohead Rishi Gurudrevan emphasized the amount of work that members of the club had put in. “We’ve all personally put a lot of work in. We’ve had people handing out literature and canvassing.”

Lower Aslan Bilimer noted his personal efforts with the Democratic Club. “I’ve been canvassing the past few weeks in New Hampshire, and the energy has been incredible,” he said. “We’ve had a ton of people devoting their time to see a better America.”

Democratic Club co-head Maya Piluski expanded on the ways that the Democrat club got involved. Piluski said, “Our club had fives this morning, and we had over 30 students show up at literally 5:00 a.m., which I know is such a difficult thing to do. But, they all showed up and we went out and distributed literature. As a group, we were able to hit over 600 houses!” 

Another cohead of Democratic club, senior Aveen Burney, expanded on this event, “fives,” where at 5:00 a.m., students and faculty, regardless of political affiliation, gathered in the local area to distribute campaign materials and remind community members to vote. “It’s just a reminder in the morning,” Burney noted, adding that these efforts allowed them “to be a part of this democracy” in a meaningful way.

Piluski continued, “I think students have done a great job of showing up. For me I feel how aware students are right now. This is a stressful time academically, so it’s great that people are taking time out of their day to show up. It really shows how important the election is and how important it is to Exeter students as well.” 

Senior and Republican Club cohead CJ Smith expressed his excitement about election night, stating, “It’s kind of hard to believe that the last time this happened was when I was in eighth grade, and now I’m a senior.” He viewed the event as a communal experience, adding, “Whoever wins, it’s gonna be really fun just to see what happens.”

Smith was also happy with the civil atmosphere on campus, crediting the school for promoting respectful discussions. “I’ve had a lot of conversations with my friends about the election who are more liberal, and they’ve all stayed civil,” he observed. He appreciated that most students approached the event with an open mind, acknowledging that “even though it may not be your preferred candidate, the world keeps spinning, I guess.”

Upper Lorax Reed noted its impact on the campus atmosphere and how it shifted attention from usual routines. “The general atmosphere of campus is one of anticipation… it’s hard to focus in on work, especially when you think about the future instead of the present.”

Reed continued by highlighting the heightened awareness of the election among faculty, rather than students. “Adults rather than the students have kind of been a little bit stressful on edge,” adding that some faculty are “nervous to see how this one goes, hoping that the transition of power goes peacefully.” Upper Towner Akers supported this view, recounting how a teacher was eager to end class early to get to the polls, which he felt created an “atmosphere of anticipation.”

Students won’t know the full results of every part of the election for a few weeks, mostly in congressional districts and in swing states with potential for recounts. Exeter Political Union cohead and upper Dylan B. Richardson explained his expectation on recounts. “Perhaps I’m impatient, but I’m hoping for as few recounts as possible,” he said. “I think it would be nice to, in the pre-COVID tradition, know the results the night of election day. It’s always possible it takes weeks, though.”

Richardson believed that the tension could leak into the Academy’s day-to-day focus if it were to drag on too long. “Political tension is not good for a place like Exeter, where we try our best to focus on our academics and activities on campus,” he said. “I love to follow politics, as do many other students on campus, but for the general student body, the stress that may come from following all of this, especially if it drags on for weeks, could very well take away from students’ focus.”

Despite the event ending before the votes were counted, students from all sides of the political spectrum came together to celebrate the excitement and nervousness that comes with an election. Holcomb concluded, “I much appreciated the way the administration put together places where students and faculty could go and just be together, to love and support each other.”