Former President Donald Trump was declared president-elect by Associated Press News at 5:34 a.m. Wednesday morning and Vice President Kamala Harris formally conceded at 1:37 p.m. Wednesday afternoon. In the wake of this historic election, Midtown students and community members are having mixed reactions as they consider how a second Trump term will impact their lives.

Senior Melina Welch stayed up until 2 a.m. watching the polls. While she was not able to vote in this election, she believes this election has great relevance to her life.

“Around 2 a.m., I had to start just doomscrolling on Instagram because I was so concerned,” Welch said. “When I woke up and saw that AP had called the race, I went to my mom’s room, and we just cried together. I barely had the motivation to come to school and take a math test.”

Welch said that policies on Trump’s agenda scare her for the future.

“I’m Black and a woman,” Welch said. “Seeing that my reproductive freedoms could be stripped away is terrifying. And, being Black, it’s very disheartening for me; I fear for my life every day.”

Trump’s victory came as a surprise for many Harris supporters, and even some Trump supporters weren’t confident he would pull off the win. Republican Sam Steiner attended the GOP watch party last night and said he was nervous about the outcome of the election.

“I think Trump will win Georgia,” Steiner said. “I think that the election is a nail-biter right now, and the winner of the election will be whoever wins Pennsylvania. I think the odds are 51% to 49% in Trump’s favor, though; I am not confident one way or another.”

Midtown students came to school Wednesday knowing the results. Senior Kinley Roberts said the election was top of mind for most students.

“None of us wanted this to happen,” Roberts said. “Most of my friends voted for Kamala. There was a brief moment of hope, but that was pretty quickly crushed by this morning. Everyone’s kind of on the same page that it’s just really stressful and the unknown of it all is really scary.”

Senior Armanda Cuyler was awake until 5 a.m. watching the polls. She said that she and many of her classmates were deeply interested in this election.

“[Kamala Harris’s campaign] appealed so strongly to young voters,” Cuyler said. “Between brat summer, KamalaHQ and all the celebrities she had at rallies, I felt like myself and so many people I know were motivated for this election. I hope this outcome does not make youth feel like their vote and energy doesn’t matter.”

Wendell McNeal, one of Georgia’s 16 state electors, was tasked with certifying the election results in Georgia. McNeal said Harris’ personality rather steered away his support as a voter.

“A big issue is her personality,” McNeal said. “She’s like a cartoon laughing, and it’s really hard to get to the bottom of the policies that she wants to implement.”

Otis Kilday, the treasurer of the Georgia State Fraternal Order of Eagles, a conservative non-profit, believes Trump’s past presidency is evidence of why he is a better candidate.

“When he was president, we had a strong military, we were energy independent, our economy was succeeding, unemployment was down and deals were being made,” Kilday said.

McNeal, like Kilday, said he supports Trump because of his past policies and experience.

“You know what he’s done in the past,” McNeal said. “When you look at your choices, you want someone who’s been a president and knows what to do over someone who doesn’t have the experience.”

Conversely, Cuyler believes that Trump’s history should have been a detracting quality for voters.

“The policies he has put forward are terrifying,” Cuyler said. “Even now, the agenda that he is proposing is so extreme. After he comes into office, we are going to see the same weird and dangerous things that went down in his first presidency.”

The Republicans also took control of the Senate after flipping multiple Democrat seats. Cuyler believes that the flip in the Senate will increase the power that Trump has as president.

“It was super disappointing to see the Senate turn red after we lost a few key races,” Cuyler said. “If the Senate hadn’t flipped, Trump’s agenda definitely would not be as effective as it likely will be.”

Roberts said she felt a lack of motivation to come to school on Wednesday after the outcome of the election.

“Today has been absolutely insane,” Roberts said. “I woke up at 6:30 to see the results and kind of lost it. I didn’t really want to go to school. I’ve just slowly been, not getting used to it, but it’s become a little less insane, but I’m pretty upset.”

Now that the race has been decided, Roberts is concerned for not only herself but for other groups as well.

“It has the potential to really create a lot of pain and suffering for me, but also a lot of people I care about and marginalized communities like the LGBTQ community,” Roberts said. “It’s just a really scary time.”

Cuyler believes that there are several races that she still finds inspiring.

“It has been a whirlwind, but we must keep faith,” Cuyler said. “We had two new Black [US] Senators elected, a Korean American [US] Senator elected, and America’s first transgender [congressperson] in US History.”

Contributions by Henry Moye and Ayan Amin

This story was originally published on The Southerner on November 6, 2024.