Stillwater an anomaly for young voters on upcoming Presidential election

Mar. 31—While it is known that Oklahoma is a deep red state, even to young voters, the City of Stillwater is an exception.

Here, a mix of views from voters under 30 could make this city an anomaly in poll results in the 2024 elections.

Though a sampling of Oklahoma voters under 30 showed strong support for former President Donald Trump, several young voters in Stillwater have said they will not vote.

Or if they do, given the two likely choices of Presidential candidates, they would likely vote Independent or third party.

News staffers across the landscape of CNHI Oklahoma — which includes 14 newspapers — fanned out over the past couple of weeks, interviewing young voters about their issues and preferences.

It was found that border security and the economy are their top concerns, and many believe Trump is the answer to their problems. A few, while saying they'll vote for President Joe Biden, will do so reluctantly.

However, while some young voters were party loyal, a few young voters in Stillwater had different thoughts on taking a hard party-line, and they discussed social consciousness and values, while holding varied political and voting views that were not straight across the board.

Bruce Trammell, a 20-year-old Republican from Ninnekah, is an avid voter and a former legislative intern.

Trammell, a student at Oklahoma State University, became interested in politics in 2016. While he was too young to vote at the time, he said he rooted for Republican candidate Ted Cruz. However, after Trump captured the Republican nomination, Trammell's opinion shifted.

"When Donald Trump was the nominee and continued his campaign, I then [saw] a spark in him that I didn't see before for America, and I then knew outsiders belonged in politics," Trammell said.

He decided to join Dick Lowe, who is now an Oklahoma state representative, to knock on thousands of doors during Lowe's campaign. He describes working as an in-session intern at both the Oklahoma State Capitol and the nation's capitol in Washington, D.C., as "life-changing experiences."

Trammell said he does not see enough political involvement among his peers.

He has not missed an election since he turned 18, and he will be voting for Trump Nov. 5, "without hesitation." He feels Trump embraced a strong America that was for all citizens during his presidency. Moreover, he believes Trump is the only candidate who can beat Biden.

Stillwater resident Abbey Fryer, 23, is originally from Durant. She's taking a break from OSU as a liberal arts student with a focus in business and creative writing. She said she's disappointed about the rematch of two older candidates.

"It's just completely shocking that out of all the people in the world, we're still at a race with two men in their 80s, kind of just working on the same topics that they say they're going to," Fryer said.

Some of her top concerns include an immediate cease-fire in Gaza, abortion rights and the border crisis.

"There are just so many things that are being swept under the rug constantly, no change at all, and it just continues to get worse," she said.

"I would also have to say, based off of events that have happened in Oklahoma currently, absolutely trans rights. This community needs to be uplifted more than ever at this moment in time. They are just people who need to be loved and cared for, just like everybody else."

Mark Ewing, 27, is a graduate of OSU, an engineer who is also a husband to a teacher and a son of teachers, education and healthcare are top issues for him.

"I would definitely say health care as a whole hasn't made a ton of progress for the better, and especially for maternity leave, which was my wife Bailey's experience," he said. "She's working in the public sector and she had limitations with maternity leave that you don't have in other countries."

Ewing appreciates the thought of health care for all, though says it doesn't work in this country and looks to other models where countries are able to provide healthcare for everyone.

"I'd probably pay the incredibly high tax rates like they do in other countries if that means getting the health care I need," he said. "I'm not a fan of going into debt for that."

On education, Ewing said it is his experience that some of the policies put into place are poor, with administrative people usually making all the decisions — who really have not spent time in the classroom — so he feels there is a disconnect.

"It'd be one thing if teachers were underpaid but treated well or paid well but not treated great," he said.

He said his wife will likely leave the classroom next year and they plan to homeschool their child.

He has concerns about the likely presidential candidates.

"It seems election after election will be getting more towards picking someone who's the farthest and extreme. So there's definitely not as much of a centered approach," Ewing said.

He feels it is a "fruitless effort" to vote in Oklahoma because the candidate will not be elected.

"I find myself leaning independent, and my wife, as well, leaning independent," he said.

Stillwater resident Brittney Caudell, 32, is LGBTQ+. She works as a barber and cosmetologist at EM — a restaurant, clothing store, barbershop, bar and venue rolled into one.

She said she's not voting for Biden in 2024 and the economy was better off when Trump was in office. She said there must be a balance in how the U.S. deals with border security and immigration.

On the new abortion laws, Caudell said she's not completely in favor of pro-choice. She said in some cases, such as molestation or rape, she sees why a person would want to choose abortion.

Inflation is another issue she's concerned with, and said there was a time she lived paycheck to paycheck.

"I make all this money, but what am I showing for it?" she said. "Nothing, because everything costs an arm and a leg."

She said that although Trump says he'll "make America great again," she's not positive he'll do that. Or that any other candidate will, either.

Will Nokes, 23, who holds a management position at Chick-Fil-A, said he did not vote for Trump or Biden in 2020, and he most likely will not vote for them again in the 2024 elections.

He has not followed any Independent candidates, but said his faith will inform his voting choices.

"The idea that we can't move forward and like, put someone else in office less divisive, I think, is just going to create an atmosphere in this country that is very polar," Nokes said. "You can see that people who are for either candidate support them very strongly, but the people that don't like them are completely against them.So someone that could unite our country, more center, I think it's what more what we should do, but that's not what we have."

Because of his faith, Nokes said voting on abortion is "a big one."

"Just general, basic morals practiced by the people leading our country are definitely something I think is strongly needed," Nokes said. "I think that's what's made our country really great are leaders from times when we look back ... have been people that we admire independently away from their time in politics."

Nokes said having a President in office who has questionable morals puts the country at risk because that makes others think they can challenge America's power.

Edmond resident Arham Chowdhury, 24, is an OSU student studying mechanical engineering.

"Normally I'm not really interested in politics, I kind of just do my own thing. When it comes to politics, I care more about individual liberties than I do about any of the other stuff," Chowdhury said. "I think more about what affects the day-to-day life of people, and I'm more concerned about that than I am really about national debt or other policies."

Chowdhury said he doesn't have solutions for topics such as healthcare and abortion rights, but said it would be nice to see universal healthcare for everyone.

He doesn't see himself going to the polls.

"That's one of the things about living in Oklahoma. I do have some conservative views, like the Second Amendment, gun rights, to a degree, should be left alone," Chowdhury said. "However, on a lot of other issues I tend to lean more left. But even with all that, voting in a deep red state such as Oklahoma, to me personally, I don't find it worth the time to plan a whole day to go wait in line and vote.

"... I'm also just too busy trying to live. The politics of this country, that's an issue later in my life. I need to focus on what's in front of me right now."

Writers from Enid and Tahlequah newspapers contributed to this report.