The Wason Center for Civic Leadership conducted a research study gauging the opinion of CNU students on the 2024 election cycle. The survey was conducted Oct. 8 through Oct. 28, 2024 with the results published on Nov. 1, 2024.
Students were asked their opinions on candidates, policy issues and other opinions on the 2024 elections.
81% of students reported they definitely intend on voting with 13% stating they likely would. 78% of respondents stated they were either very enthusiastic or somewhat enthusiastic about voting in the 2024 elections. Voter intention results polled that for the U.S. presidential election, Harris leads Trump by 20 points, which is a 53% to 33% difference. 10% of students reported being undecided while the remaining 4% stated they intend to vote for someone else.
“There is a sizeable gender gap for presidential vote choice with women supporting Harris by 31 points (60% to 29%), while Harris has a 5-point advantage among men (45% to 40%),” researchers said.
During their research, Former President Trump scored a 38 in favorability rating. Meaning 27% of respondents rated him favorably, 65% rated unfavorably and the remaining 8% reported having no opinion. On the counter, Vice President Harris scored a +8 favorability rating. Concluding 49% of respondents rated her favorably, 41% rated her unfavorably with the remaining 10% having no opinion.
For the Vice Presidential nominees, Governor Walz scored a +35 favorability rating, with 47% of respondents having rated him favorably, 22% rated him unfavorably and 32% stated they had no opinion. However, Senator J.D. Vance scored a -17 favorability rating. 29% of respondents rated him favorably, 46% rated him unfavorably and the remaining 25% stated they had no opinion.
When students were questioned about whether or not democracy itself in the U.S. could be at risk depending on the presidential election outcome, 54% of students reported it would be at risk. 26% of respondents stated that U.S. democracy could withstand the election, however 19% reported that “democracy in the U.S. is already so seriously broken that it doesn’t matter who wins the presidential election.”
When questioned about who would overall do a “better job” when dealing with six of seven policy issues, CNU students reported they felt Harris would do better more so than Trump.
The survey included “climate change (78% to 19%), immigration (50% to 47%), preserving democracy (62% to 34%), gun violence (64% to 34%), abortion (70% to 27%), and health care (66% to 31%). CNU students say Trump will do a better job handling the economy relative to Harris (54% to 42%).”
The results of this poll were based on 701 web-based responses from CNU students. The survey was written by the Wason Scholar survey committee in coordination with the Wason Research Director, Dr. Bromley-Trujillo. The survey was programmed in Qualtrics and disseminated to the CNU student population via email and through a QR code at CNU events.
The Captain’s Log will cover a detailed analysis of the 2024 Presidential Election outcome in next week’s issue on Nov. 14.
