Young voters at the University of Miami and elsewhere in this election are forced to grapple with a number of issues that will define our generation’s future. But which do we deem most important? 

In line with national polling, the economy and reproductive rights were the two issues that UM students overwhelmingly cited as having the most influence on their vote choice.

A 51% majority of students surveyed at the University were most concerned with the state of the economy.

“Realistically, how well the economy does directly correlates to if I get a job out of school,” said Jack Federici, a sophomore majoring in finance and accounting. 

As young, ambitious pre-professionals, UM students naturally hope to graduate into a prosperous job market.

Federici criticized both presidential candidates, stating that Harris’ levying of new taxes on the highest income earners and big corporations would “kill” his future job prospects. “These corporations are going to have to hold money and hold reserves to pay these taxes, meaning they’re going to decrease the number of new hires and new interns that they choose to accept,” Federici said.

“All the dude cares about is increasing his own net worth,” Federici said of Trump. “Obviously, the tariffs is a big issue. He doesn’t understand how tariffs work. And so our global trade is going to suffer.” 

Overall, Federici trusts Trump’s prospective handling of the economy over Harris’s, but remains an undecided voter.

Not one for partisan quarreling, Federici said, “I don’t want to get into fights with people. I don’t need the drama, but I want a job.”

Most Americans pay little attention to day-to-day political happenings, with the exception of the few weeks leading up to presidential elections. Thus, they often prioritize the economy over other issues when deciding which candidate to vote for. 

When the economy is on the ascent in an election year, the incumbent is rewarded among this demographic of voters, while the opposite is true when the economy is receding or rampant inflation is hurting Americans’ standard of living.

Classifying UM survey responses by gender also provides fascinating insights.

A whopping 68% of male students surveyed cited the economy as their primary concern. 37% of female students too cited the economy, while 42% chose reproductive rights as their top issue. 

Quite remarkably, of the nearly 40 men interviewed, none chose reproductive rights as their primary issue of interest.

American women are “at a disadvantage,” said Valentina Mladic, a junior majoring in psychology. “We have less bodily autonomy than men… a civil right has been stripped from us.” 

Indeed, the 2024 election marks the first time in over a century that the American people have lost a right previously afforded to them by the federal government, following the Supreme Court overturn of Roe v. Wade in 2022. The last instance of this was the 1920 election, in which Prohibition had gone into effect the previous year.

26% of respondents chose other issues as their primary concern, from most to least frequently cited being: climate change, gun control, the Israel-Palestine conflict, protecting democracy, immigration and border security, healthcare and national debt and the budget deficit. 

“Looking at Donald Trump’s plan, it’s more economically focused, and that’s usually not good for the environment. He’ll be more lenient with companies, and he’s taking down a lot of past legislation that has helped the environment recover,” said Clay Fallon, a sophomore ecosystem and policy major. 

In fact, a New York Times analysis found nearly 100 environmental rules officially reversed, revoked or rolled back during Trump’s first presidency. 

“We’d be going in the wrong direction, for our country, and for our world,” Fallon said, citing the urgency of the climate crisis as a major threat to society at large. 

The youngest cohort of voters (18-24 year olds) cite environmental issues as highly influential to their vote choice more than any other age group.

Other voters are discouraged by the candidates’ lackluster proposals regarding issues that have been deemed less important by both parties.

“The policies that I actually care about are not things that would influence my voting decision that much because I feel like neither candidate really is going to do anything about it. Gun control, climate change, Israel-Palestine are all pretty important to me, and I feel like neither candidate really has the guts to actually make something change,” said Matthew Scarmuzza, a sophomore majoring in business analytics and data science & AI.

Disappointed by the Biden administration’s inaction on these issues, and presumably without much faith in Trump, Scarmuzza said, “I don’t care much for either major party candidate. I’m deciding between voting third party and not voting.”

As election day approaches, UM students, like Americans at large, remain deeply engaged in weighing their options and deciding which candidates best address their most pressing concerns.

76 students, 38 men and 38 women, who self-identified as likely voters were surveyed at random in Richter Library on Oct. 20.