By Gavriella Geffner,
Staff Writer.
Tuesday, Nov. 5 may be one of the most important days in modern history. This generation of politics has already made its own history with the first president in over half a century to drop out of a re-election race, and the first former president to be convicted of felony crimes. Whether politics interest you or not, the future of our country will be decided in just a couple months.
Who are the main candidates and what are their achievements?
Let’s start with Kamala Harris. She grew up in Oakland, California, with her mother, who was a nurse, and her younger sister. She graduated from Howard University and obtained a law degree from the University of California College of the Law, San Francisco. Harris started from the bottom as a district attorney in Oakland, and later rose to be elected as attorney general of California. She won the race to be a U.S. Senator in 2016, and soon in 2020 became the first black woman to serve as vice president. She accepted the nomination for President on Aug. 22, 2024 at the Democratic National Convention.
Kamala Harris’ running mate is Tim Walz, current governor of Minnesota. Walz served in the national guard for 24 years, taught geography and coached his school’s football team before getting into politics after witnessing a group of his students be denied access to a Bush press event in 2004. Walz was elected to congress six times, and won the governor race in 2018.
On the Republican ticket, Donald J. Trump is the presidential nominee. Trump grew up in New York with four siblings and his father who was a very successful real-estate developer. He graduated from University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Finance and commerce with a bachelor’s degree in economics. He then worked for his father’s company full time. He partnered with television networks throughout the ‘90s and early 2000s, making a fortune through the Miss Universe Organization and multiple reality TV shows. Throughout his career Trump played with the idea of running for president, but never officially ran until 2016, when he beat Hillary Clinton and held office until 2020.
Donald Trump’s vice presidential nominee is J.D. Vance. In 2016, Vance wrote a best-selling book called Hillbilly Elegy, a memoir of his experience growing up lower class. Vance considered running for Senate in 2018, but did not until he ran and won the Ohio seat in 2022. After originally calling himself a “never Trump guy,” he apologized for his past comments and made the MAGA policies the center of his campaign.
So what is there to know about the upcoming election? The first presidential debate happened on Sept.10, held at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia. There has been speculation for a second debate in October, but no official one has been put on the calendar just yet. The vice presidential debate is scheduled to occur on Oct. 1, with CBS Network.
