Both the BYU College Republicans and Democrats were optimistic that their candidates would pull out a win after initial votes came in on Election Day.
It is unclear who will win the 2020 election, as absentee ballots have not all been counted. However, swing states like Arizona and Pennsylvania have yielded promising outcomes, with Arizona flipping blue and Trump leading in Pennsylvania. Club members gave their reactions to these uncertain results.
“I’m actually really pleased with the way that things have gone so far,” said BYU College Republicans President Sam Crofts. While it’s still early, raw numbers in swing states are looking really good for the president, he said.
He added that he hopes people will be civil regardless of the outcome. “At the end of the day, we’re not defined by who we vote for.”
Quincy Azimi-Tabrizi, Republicans VP of outreach and events, said she fully expects there to be riots if Trump wins. “I’m hoping it’ll blow over. I can’t imagine that we’d actually come to a civil war.”
Florida is one of the swing states the country focused on yesterday night. Azimi-Tabrizi said Trump winning Florida by a higher margin than in 2016 shows there’s something the media and the polls are not accounting for.
“I hate to use the words ‘silent majority’ because I don’t think anyone’s silent, but there is absolutely a silent majority,” she said.
Another important swing state this election is Pennsylvania. “I think as long as we take Pennsylvania, Trump’s good. He’s won,” Azimi-Tabrizi said.
Republicans VP of communications Spencer May agreed that the race is coming down to swing states like Pennsylvania. He said Arizona flipping blue was a “big surprise.”
BYU College Democrats officer Luke Romney mentioned the major Latter-day Saint population in Arizona and said he hoped Trump’s moral issues were recognized there. “His values just do not align with the religious perspective at all.”
May said he’s cautiously optimistic that the president will have another four years in office. “It’s looking like the consensus is that there’s no consensus.”
He discussed how Americans didn’t find out the results on Election Day this year and brought up the possibility of a tie. “It’s a fitting election for 2020.”
Romney said the way Trump handled the pandemic was a wake-up call. “Donald Trump did not do enough.”
He believes Joe Biden will win and said the results on Nov. 3 might look closer than they actually are. The hope is that Biden comes out ahead when all the absentee ballots are counted. A lot of people who choose to stay home usually identify as liberal or left-leaning, he said.
“I really hope and pray that over the next few days we can avoid any violent conflict as we wait to have definitive results,” Romney said, adding that the results of a fair election will be important after the country has been under high stress.
Democrats co-president Sarah Koger also said she’s holding out hope since a lot of people voted by mail. “These initial results are kind of disheartening.”
She said she was proud of Utah, her home state, referencing the 38% of people who voted for Biden.
During uncertain times, Koger said her only option is to have hope for the future.
