Although President George W. Bush won the Nov. 2 national popular vote by more than 3 million ballots in his successful bid for re-election, more than 76 percent of UCSD student voters selected challenger Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) as their choice, according to a Guardian exit poll.
Kerry topped Bush on each of six campuses participating in a joint exit poll conducted by UC student newspapers, receiving a total of 82 percent of votes among UC students. At UC Berkeley, 85 percent of voters cast ballots for the Democratic candidate, while 82 percent of UCLA student voters chose Kerry. He won by slightly smaller margins at UC Davis and UC Riverside, with support from 74 and 81 percent of students, respectively.
UC Santa Cruz delivered Kerry the biggest victory margin, with 90 percent of students voting for the ticket.
Newspapers at UC Santa Barbara and UC Irvine did not take part in the poll.
“Those who go to college are more likely to vote for Kerry, especially those in California, [and] especially those attending public universities,” said UCSD assistant political science professor Thad Kousser, an expert on California politics.
Among the voters surveyed on the UCSD campus, 75 percent said they were Democrats or leaned toward that party; 20 percent identified themselves as Republicans or Republican-leaning; and 5 percent said they were pure independents.
Roughly the same percentage of women and men picked Kerry over Bush.
For about 35 percent of UCSD student voters surveyed, the economy represented the most important issue in deciding which presidential candidate to support, regardless of political affiliation.
Although the students’ interest in the economy was unexpected, Kousser said he attributed the results to the fact that many students will be searching for jobs after graduation.
“For most people the economy is what affects their lives, but that’s still surprising,” Kousser said.
UCSD economics professor Ross Starr also noted the importance of the economy in the elections, and said that the Bush administration tried to emphasize the president’s Social Security proposals to appeal to younger voters.
“Certainly one point that the Kerry campaign emphasized strongly was the moderately weak employment figures over the last four years, and it’s an accurate observation,” Starr said. “Bush came into an economy that was going into recession, so that wasn’t his fault. What we can blame him for is a large fiscal debt without any stimulus to the economy.”
The conflict in Iraq was the second most popular election issue among campus voters, with roughly 25 percent, followed by education with about 18 percent. Along partisan lines, about 29 percent of Democratic students considered Iraq the most important decisive issue, compared to 18 percent of Republican students. More than twice as many Democrats as Republicans said education represented their top issue.
Civil liberties ranked as the most important issue facing lawmakers by UCSD students, with 28 percent picking it as their top choice, followed closely by social justice. Approximately 32 percent of Democratic students selected civil liberties, compared with only 16 percent of Republican students.
Student voters were randomly sampled at the two voting locations on campus – the Muir Half Dome Lounge and Price Center Gallery A.
Readers can contact Lisa Mak at [email protected].
