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Voters say economy, abortion were key issues in getting them out to the polls
Despite a steady rain most of the day, voters headed to polls across Eastern Iowa on Tuesday
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While many Iowans chose to vote early in this year’s General Election, thousands still showed up at polling locations across Eastern Iowa Tuesday morning to cast their ballot in local, state and national races.
In interviews with The Gazette, voters listed a number of issues that motivated them to participate in the election: immigration, abortion, the economy, world politics, and even the campaigns’ text messaging habits.
Decision made over breakfast Tuesday
It wasn't until breakfast with his buddies the morning of Election Day that University of Iowa freshman Will Errington, 18, decided how he would vote in his first-ever election.
"I will be voting for Donald Trump," Errington, of Mount Vernon, told The Gazette before entering the polling place in Petersen Residence Hall on the UI campus just before 11 a.m.
"I voted for Donald Trump as well," his friend and fellow UI freshman Tyler Stout, 18, of Altoona, said — having voted weeks ago back home.
Although Stout said he's known which candidate would get his support for a while, Errington remained among the coveted undecideds until just hours before voting.
"During breakfast when we all talked," Errington said with a laugh to the question of when he decided.
Errington and Stout said they planned to stay up late Tuesday for updates on the historic election — in which they're finally getting to participate.
"I'm gonna be watching the results all night," Stout said.
Looking for a candidate to unify America
In this election, 64-year-old Monthe Brown of Hiawatha said she was looking for a candidate who would unify the country. She also cited women's rights and the economy as key issues influencing her vote.
Brown, who is retired, voted for Vice President Kamala Harris at the Hiawatha Community Center on Tuesday.
"She vows to bring the country together," Brown said. "There's been so much separation, and I don't like the ugliness."
Brown said she was troubled by the conviction of former President Donald Trump in New York of 34 felony counts for falsifying business records.
"Why is it that felons can't vote, but felons can run? That's my issue," Brown said. "Where's the accountability? That's showing there's a very staunch difference in the way things are run in this country and that's not fair."
In dozens of states, people who’ve been convicted of a felony are allowed to vote. In 2020, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed an executive order restoring the right to vote to felons who have completed their sentences including parole and probation.
‘We got practice off’
For 20-year-old University of Iowa sophomore Rose Cassioppi — who came to Iowa last year from Roscoe, Ill. as a member of the inaugural Hawkeye women's wrestling team — Tuesday was not just about who she was voting for, but that she was voting.
"Our coach said this was important and we should all vote," Cassioppi said. "So we got practice off, and he was telling us how we didn't get to vote for so long as women, so now that we can, we should go do it."
As to who Cassioppi would be voting for in her first presidential election, she said with a smile, "We'll see."
Voting ‘nerve-wracking’ for first-time voter
William Diveley, 19, was nervous when it was time for him to vote on Tuesday.
"Picking someone who will run the country for the next four years is nerve-wracking," Diveley said.
Voting for the first time at the Teahen Funeral Home polling location in Cedar Rapids, the Kirkwood Community College business and marketing major said his family and friends encouraged him to participate.
Diveley said it wasn't easy picking a candidate, but he wanted to make a thorough choice, so he spent time researching both candidates’ policies and how they would approach the role.
He ended up voting for Vice President Kamala Harris.
"I like her policies a lot and I like that she is up-front about her priorities, but isn't in your face about it," Diveley said. "I think she's respectable."
Diveley said he also likes her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
Immigration, border security brought IC Republican out to vote
Iowa City resident Barbara Kamber said immigration, border security and abortion restrictions were key issues she considered when casting a ballot Tuesday morning for Republican Donald Trump and Iowa GOP incumbent U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks.
"I want to live in a secure country," Kamber, a registered Republican, said.
She faulted Democratic President Joe Biden’s administration for ending immigration policies started under then-President Trump’s administration, such as a requirement that some asylum-seekers be sent back to Mexico during preliminary immigration proceedings and halting construction of the wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Kamber called Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee running against Trump in Tuesday's election, an "unknown," despite serving as vice president alongside Biden for the last nearly four years. Before that, Harris served in the U.S. Senate and unsuccessfully ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020.
"Trump was president for four years, and I know what he's going to do," Kamber said. "I don't know what (Harris) has done for the last three years. She's doing nothing. (Trump) started the (border) wall and he's going to finish it and eliminate sanctuary cities like Iowa City."
She said she voted for Miller-Meeks because of the two-term incumbent's position on abortion.
During a televised debate with Democratic challenger Christina Bohannan hosted by Iowa PBS, Miller-Meeks said she is “pro-life with exceptions for rape, incest and life of the mother.” She previously told The Gazette she believes a consensus could be built around a federal law that would ban abortions after the 15th week of pregnancy. But during the debate, she said she does not “see federal legislation coming down the road any time soon.”
Teen voter’s decision comes down to the wire
When Samuel Holub, 18, rolled up to Petersen Residence Hall on the University of Iowa campus wanting to vote Tuesday morning, he wasn't yet registered. But a woman standing outside with voter information gave him instructions.
"I will be registered," Holub said. "I was going to vote with my mom, but that didn't happen."
The UI freshman from Cedar Rapids said he's been following the candidates and issues and is excited to participate in what he views as a significant election. But — just minutes before casting his ballot — Holub said he hadn't yet decided who would get his support.
"I'll be making that decision on the ballot," he said — citing some of the issues that might sway him.
"I really do not like the Israel-Palestine conflict," he said. "I'm very, very against that. I'm very pro-labor laws, so I'd say I lean with Kamala in that sense. But I don't like some of the other things that she agrees with, at least on social issues …
"I'm in a spot where I don't like any of the candidates."
Central City voter looking for candidate who 'cares about everyone'
Mara Fisher, 24, said the discourse she has seen between the two presidential candidates this year was a big deciding factor for her vote Tuesday for Vice President Kamala Harris.
Fisher, of Central City, said she usually votes for Democrats and has been planning to vote for Harris since she became the candidate, replacing President Joe Biden.
"We need someone who cares about everyone," she said.
Abortion was a big issue for Fisher. That also led her to vote against the retention of David May, an Iowa Supreme Court justice who was part of the majority decision that overturned an injunction, allowing Iowa's new abortion restrictions to go into effect earlier this year.
Campaign text messages influenced local voter
Twenty-four-year-old Kyra Hill, of Hiawatha, said campaign text messages were effective — but not in the way one might expect.
"At the end of the day, I care about who is going to defend me and my rights as a citizen, not who's going to flash their image everywhere and be more concerned about making money," Hill said. "I will say one thing that's influenced me is the amount of texts I got to donate money before the ballot [was] up for the Republican Party and that tells me what they're concerned about."
Hill voted for Vice President Kamala Harris at the Hiawatha Community Center Tuesday morning.
"Our basic human rights are on the ballot this year. We've seen legal precedents that have stood for years overturned in the blink of an eye and I'm not about to stand by and watch more things get taken away from me," Hill said. "I mean, I believe in life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness and that should not change just because I don't believe in someone else's religion."
Cedar Rapids voter wants ‘equal taxation across the board’
Walking into the Ladd Library early Tuesday morning, Mike and Tina Spading of Cedar Rapids cast their votes with the economy in mind.
Mike Spading, 56, said he felt responsible as a union member to vote in the election. The economy and strengthening the middle class were key factors in decisions about candidates.
"I want to see an equal tax across the board," he said. "No matter what, if you fall into upper, middle, lower [class], it's 20 percent for everyone. If we keep doing it the way it is, it's just going to allow the rich to get richer, make the middle class hurt and the poorer get obsolete."
Tina Spading, 58, said the economy also was at the top of her list, along with border control issues.
"We need to help our own first," she said.
The Spadings declined to say which candidates they voted for.
These Election Day reports were collected by Emily Andersen, Tom Barton, Bailey Cichon, Olivia Cohen and Vanessa Miller of The Gazette.
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