Businessman Donald Trump and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton were the victors in New York state’s Tuesday, April 19, primary. Plattsburgh State students, most of whom have started to become involved in the political process, have various opinions on the primary’s outcome.
PSUC junior music major and registered Republican Brianne Bennett said she voted for Ohio Gov. John Kasich. She also said she identifies as a conservative Republican, while Kasich tends to be more centrist and moderate in his views.
Bennett said Kasich did better than she anticipated, and although she doesn’t support all his beliefs, she said he is a well-rounded candidate. She also said he takes the high road in his actions on the campaign trail.
“He (Kasich) doesn’t play into any of the immaturity that Donald Trump tends to do,” she said. “He (Trump) tends to make rude comments about people.”
Trump won every county in the state except New York County, where Kasich claimed victory, according to the New York Times. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz failed to get a single New York state delegate.
In the Democratic race, Clinton won the majority of votes in the state, despite Sanders winning more counties, the Times reported. She outperformed Sanders in Orange, Rockland and Westchester counties, as well as the New York City area.
Sanders beat Clinton in the rest of the state’s counties except Onondaga, Monroe and Erie, where, respectively, the upstate cities of Syracuse, Rochester, and Buffalo are located. Clinton won in those areas.
PSUC political science and philosophy double major and legal studies minor Oye Edebiri said not every registered Democratic or Republican voter in the New York city area had the opportunity to vote.
About 125,000 Democratic voters had been removed from voter rolls, a listing of registered voters in a particular area, CNN reported in an article.
“Of the 126,000 Democratic voters taken off from the rolls in Brooklyn, (New York City Board of Elections Executive Director Michael) Ryan said 12,000 had moved out of borough, while 44,000 more had been placed in an inactive file after mailings to their homes bounced back,” according to the CNN article. “An additional 70,000 were already inactive and, having failed to vote in two successive federal elections or respond to cancel notices, were removed.”
Edebiri said that event hampered Sanders’ performance in the primary because it took away potential votes that might have been his. She also pointed to the fact that New York is a closed-primary state, meaning voters must be registered through their local boards of elections as Democrats or Republicans in order to vote.
The New York City native and Sanders supporter Edibiri said New York City voters supported Clinton largely because Clinton is a woman. However, she said Clinton is “wishy-washy” in her political stances, and that made Edebiri lose faith in her candidacy.
“We don’t know what we’re getting with her (Clinton),” she said. “Donald Trump — we know he’s a jerk. We know that, and we’re going to expect that.”
PSUC TV/video production major Ryan Adams said he does not lean to the left or right, and he prefers to focus more on the issues.
He said that he looks at Kasich as the best candidate for the Republican nomination and believes either Clinton or Sanders would make a good choice as the Democratic nominee.
“Whether it’s going to be Clinton or Sanders — or Trump or Kasich or Cruz — it’s going to be a very interesting election,” he said.
The next showdown among all candidates will take place this Tuesday, April 26. Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island will hold their primary elections.
Email Tim Lyman at news@cardinalpointsonline.com
