Californians head to the polls on Tuesday to vote for its 41st governor, with incumbent Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom running against Republican State Senator Brian Dahle.
In interviews with over two dozen Cosumnes River College students, opinions on who should take the seat varied.
Annalyse Thorpe, 18, a psychology major, filled out her ballot a couple of days ago and voted for Newsom.
“I personally really respect his politics, his stance on abortion,” Thorpe said. “I know who he is. He’s been governor since as long as I can remember.”
Tiffany Darcy, 27, a pre-nursing major, was undecided on a candidate because she disagrees with Newsom’s policies toward state workers and COVID-19 restrictions and said she felt like Newsom hasn’t done anything to fix the current state-wide homeless crisis.
“I don’t think we’re solving a lot of our problems like homelessness,” said Darcy. “I think we’re throwing money at problems, but we’re not actually fixing anything.”
Newsom, the former Mayor of San Francisco, survived a recall election last year.
Dahle, a farmer from rural Northern California, has served in the California State Senate since 2019.
The candidates clash over solutions to reproductive rights, rising gas prices and the state-wide homeless crisis.
Zoe Ma, 19, an English major, said that although she has Republican parents who want to see Newsom out of office, she voted for the current governor.
“I’m more of a liberal. I’m not really into Republicans,” Ma said. “I stuck with Newsom.”
Aidan Silvano, 19, an English major, said he was probably going to vote for governor and favored Newsom.
“I don’t trust Republicans. I think they’re only in it for themselves,” Silvano said. “I feel like Democrats are too, but at least they’re not bigoted usually.”
Silvano added that he wouldn’t vote for Newsom if he found a candidate that better reflected his values.
“I think he’s not as friendly towards workers as other candidates could be,” said Silvano.
According to an Oct. 4 poll from the Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies and eScholarship, Newsom leads with 52% to Dahle’s 32% of the likely vote.
Steve Lackemacher, 66, a photography student, said he didn’t know who was running against Newsom, but would vote for Newsom’s opponent.
“Anybody but Newsom,” Lackemacher said. “Whoever’s a Republican.”