2024 Election Spotlight

Publishing Editor Praharnya Shankar Karthik takes a deeper look at the 2024 Election

With the 2024 US Presidential Election less than a month away, let’s take a closer look at the current state of the race. The two major candidates for this year’s election are Kamala Harris, representing the Democrats, and Donald Trump, running for the Republicans. There are also three independent/third-party candidates: Cornel West, Jill Stein, and Chase Oliver. According to recent polls, Harris and Trump have an equal chance of being elected, with neither of them having a significant advantage. Let’s take a look at the backgrounds of our candidates.

Kamala Harris, 59 years old, was born in Oakland, California in 1964 to an Indian mother and Jamaican father. Both of Harris’s parents were involved in the Civil Rights Movement, which is what influenced her sense of justice and political work. Harris completed her undergraduate studies in political science and economics at Howard University, an HBCU, before earning her JD (juris doctor) from the University of California, Hastings College of Law. During college, she interned with the California Senator Alan Cranston and was also president of her college’s economics society and debate team, while simultaneously being a member of the Alpha Kappa Sorority. After graduating, Harris worked as an attorney, gradually climbing the ladder before running for district attorney in 2002. In 2011, she became the Attorney General of California. After serving in this role for many years, Harris announced her candidacy for California senator in 2015 and was endorsed by the Democratic Party. In recent years, Harris ran for vice president alongside Joe Biden. This year, after Biden dropped out of the presidential race, Harris automatically became the new Democratic candidate, with Tim Walz as her vice president.

Donald Trump, 78 years old, was born in 1946 and served as the 45th US president from 2016 to 2020. He ran again in 2020 but lost to Joe Biden. Trump was the first president to have no prior political or military experience, instead having a successful career in real estate. During his presidency, he created seven million new jobs, boosting the economy and increasing middle-class income by $6,000. He also reduced the unemployment rate to 3.5%, the lowest it had been in half a century. Additionally, he supported small businesses and rural America.

As Senator and Vice President, Kamala Harris has proposed numerous reforms to address crime and lower truancy rates in schools. If elected president, she plans to create an equal opportunity economy and strengthen the middle class by cutting taxes, making healthcare more affordable, and implementing measures to combat climate change. Meanwhile, Trump plans to extend some of his previous policies, such as tax cuts that are set to expire. He also aims to boost the economy by expanding US energy production and implementing new tariffs on trade with other countries.

Aside from the candidates, there are many other interesting aspects to the 2024 election. Key battleground states include Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. In these states, it is unclear who has the advantage. While initially it seemed that Kamala Harris had the lead in the race, Trump has been closing the gap and the race is now a tie. With the election less than a week away, tensions are rising and whatever the outcome, it’s sure to be exciting.