As Election Day approaches, the stakes are high for Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania and the nation.

Pennsylvania has become the epicenter of a contentious and unprecedented 2024 election cycle.

Both of the party’s major presidential candidates — 1968 Wharton graduate former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris — crossed the state several times in the months leading up to Nov. 5. campus in hopes of attracting younger voters.

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As Election Day approaches, The Daily Pennsylvanian spoke with several Pennsylvania political groups about the importance of the 2024 election and what they think is at stake.

National issues

After President and former University of Pennsylvania professor Joe Biden dropped out of the presidential race in late July, Harris rose to the top of the Democratic ticket. Trump, the Republican nominee, is running his third presidential campaign. As their campaigns took shape, sharp differences emerged between the two candidates’ positions on key national issues.

College junior and Pennsylvania Association of Government and Policy Vice President for Home Affairs Sage Mehta told DP that while GPA members “come from a variety of ideological backgrounds,” many agree on the importance of the 2024 election.

“I think the consensus that we’re seeing almost across the board is that people think there’s a lot at stake,” Mehta said. “There are a lot of issues that I think we as college students can find very pressing, which makes the outcome of this election undeniably important.”

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The Penn Democrats and Penn College Republicans, the largest partisan political organizations on campus, agreed that immigration and the economy are two national issues that are central to the election.

In particular, both groups agree that meaningful steps need to be taken to address immigration, which is “an issue that affects everyone,” said college sophomore and Penn Dems communications director Steve Young. However, the groups disagreed on who would be best able to make these changes.

“Trump is more interested in just saying this is a serious problem rather than actually solving it,” Yang said.

In contrast, a representative from the College Republicans Council believes the United States should prioritize “enforcing (its) laws” regarding immigration.

“We must be a welcoming country because we are a country of immigrants,” he told the DP. “But there is a huge, huge difference, which the left seems to ignore today, between legal immigration (and the fact that we value different cultures and different people) and illegal immigration, which we should not accept under any circumstances.”

Yang highlighted abortion, women’s rights and gun control as additional important issues for Democrats, while the GOP representative emphasized a focus on crime.

However, Yang said Democrats’ top priority is preserving democracy. Election experts have expressed concern that Trump will not accept the results of the 2024 presidential election if Harris wins.

“If we have a system where people don’t respect the results of elections, our democracy will be in danger,” he said.

State and local influence

While the presidential race is in the spotlight, the nation’s attention is also focused on the race for one of Pennsylvania’s Senate seats. With the U.S. Senate currently split 51-49 in favor of Democrats, the race between incumbent Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) and former hedge fund CEO Dave McCormick could help determine the balance of power in the Senate.

“(The race) will also determine whether Kamala Harris gets elected (and) whether we have a Democratic Senate (that) we can go forward and pass important legislation that needs to be passed,” Yang said. “If Donald Trump is elected, (then) we will have an effective counterweight and a very strong Democratic majority — or very close to a majority — that will act as a check on Trump’s desire to expand power.”

A spokesman for the College Republicans Council said that while Casey “previously was a moderate Democrat,” he has “moved significantly to the left.”

“A lot of political outsiders are trying to get into politics lately, but sometimes it’s really good because (McCormick) is a problem solver,” he said.

Elections for senators and state-level politicians could “hit home,” Mehta said. The 2022 elections for Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and U.S. Senator John Fetterman (D-PA) are examples of this.

“These elected officials … visited Penn State, visited the campus, and I think we were able to see how they influence us and represent us in some way,” she said. “I think people need to be aware of the consequences of elections at the local and state level.”

Penn Dems and College Republicans agreed that their parties’ national interests can have both broad and local impacts.

“The economy affects everyone,” said a spokesman for the College Republicans Council. “Having a good economy, low inflation, the kind of good numbers we had under Trump—those numbers disproportionately help people who are in middle-class families, because if you’re a billionaire or a millionaire, it doesn’t help.” It doesn’t matter if the price of gas is $5. But if you’re middle class, it really matters. This will impact people across Pennsylvania — and obviously in every state in the country.”

Reaching Consensus

Mehta stressed the importance of ensuring voters’ voices are heard, regardless of their political stance.

“I think it’s important for us to vote and use our background, show our voice and make it heard in politics,” she told DP. “We want to have that dialogue and ensure that they are represented at the polls wherever voters and GPA members vote.”

Despite their differences, Yang and the GOP representative believed that respect was important for political dialogue, especially conversations about controversial topics.

“There can always be common ground, and progress can always be made if you just treat it with respect and get to the bottom of why these differences exist,” said a College Republicans spokesman.

Yang linked shared patriotism to the importance of preserving democracy.

“We need to get back to an era where we respect each other and just agree to disagree about our policies and politics and how to achieve our goals,” he said. “I think we are all patriots; We all care about our country.”