The US presidential election set for November 5 is likely to be determined by voters in a handful of swing states across the country, from Pennsylvania to Georgia, Arizona to Michigan.
Will voters pick Democrat Kamala Harris or Republican Donald Trump? And why do they support each one?
Here are what voters in these “swing states” have to say about their picks just one month before Election Day.
– Trump, to ‘finish’ his wall –
John Ladd, a 69-year-old cattle rancher in the southwestern US state of Arizona, has already made his choice for the November election.
“I’m voting for Donald Trump,” he resolutely told AFP.
Ladd said he was concerned about the economic situation in the United States, as well as the influx of migrants, which he claims to see on a daily basis on his ranch, located very close to the Mexican border.
“Since Biden’s been president, it’s been every day, around the clock,” he said, noting nearly 30 arrests happen daily near his property.
He hopes Trump will return to the White House to “finish” the border wall.
– Trump, to rein in crime –
Martin Kutzler, 60, lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, along the shores of Lake Michigan.
A self-described “traditional Republican voter,” Kutzler said he will also vote for Trump, who has a “boldness” he finds admirable.
He said his primary motive for supporting Trump is the former president’s promise to fight crime.
“Living in a major city, I can see crime has risen,” he told AFP, saying the number of carjackings and break-ins is obvious when “walking downtown and seeing broken glass in the street.”
– Harris, to see the ‘first female president’ –
Tricia Harris, an African American woman who lives in Atlanta, the largest city in the southern US state of Georgia, said she will be voting for Harris on November 5 — and not only because they share a last name.
“A first female president would be extraordinary,” said the 47-year-old, who added that she is “incredibly enthusiastic” about Harris’s candidacy.
She said she also fears the return of “racism and hostility” she noticed during the years Trump was in office.
– Harris, for her ‘perspicacity’ –
“Trump is so extraordinarily awful,” said Michael Cooperman, a 55-year-old man in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
“He’s divisive, chaotic and corrupt,” he added, in reference to Trump’s legal woes, including a criminal conviction in May.
“I’m not saying the Democrats are perfect,” said Cooperman, who teaches English to immigrants in Pennsylvania’s largest city.
But Harris’s “perspicacity” and “intelligence,” as well as her background as a prosecutor, convinced him to support the Democratic candidate in November.
The only thing that gives him pause? “I’m not sure I’m in lockstep with her on foreign policy,” said Cooperman.
“I’m Jewish and quite pro-Israel” he explained, calling the vice president “an untested entity” on the issue.
– Neither Trump nor Harris, due to Gaza –
On the flip side, Soujoud Hamade, 32, criticizes Harris for supporting Israel and the “genocide” she accuses the country of carrying out in the Gaza Strip.
“This is the first time I’m not voting for a Democrat in the general election,” the resident of Dearborn, Michigan told AFP.
“She has made no statement to condemn the horrific acts that Israel has committed,” said the Arab-American lawyer, who instead plans to vote for third-party candidate Jill Stein.
Harris’s attitude toward Israel dropping bombs in Lebanon has “sealed her fate” for her, Hamade said.
cjc/jgc/sst
