The Beachcomber sent a survey to the student body in mid-October to gauge the political views of BHS students in anticipation of the upcoming election.

99 students completed the survey, representing 18.4% of 539 enrolled students.

While the reality of a voluntary-response survey significantly diminishes its validity, the results are so definitive that we can make some generalizations about, at least, the more politically active stratum of the BHS population. 

Roughly 89% of students surveyed responded that they would, if given the chance, vote for Democratic Party Candidate Joe Biden. About 7% support the incumbent President, Donald Trump. Many students vocally oppose the highly-controversial Trump presidency. 

“[Donald Trump] knows nothing about politics, the economy, or foreign policy,” Senior Amanda Bendis said. “He didn’t pay any taxes. … He’s pretty much a criminal.” 

“He has sexually assaulted women in the past and gotten away with it,” she added. “… and with the Mueller report, it is not hard to conclude that he again got away with illegal activity.”

In the upcoming congressional race, BHS students displayed a similar Democratic preference, with 91.8% supporting Democratic incumbent Marcia Fudge and 8.2% supporting LaVerne Gore.

More rigorous analysis revealed that roughly 13% of LaVerne supporters selected Joe Biden as their preferred candidate — implying that some conservative students would also wish to see Trump defeated. 

There also appears to be some support for Trump amid Democratic-minded students, as 14% of students who support Trump also support Marcia Fudge’s re-election. These results are not necessarily indicative of trends, because the samples of pro-Trump and pro-Gore supporters are so low.

The student body’s left-wing bias is reinforced in the responses to the question “Who would you nominate for President if you could choose anyone?” 

25% of surveyed students would choose to nominate Democratic-Socialist candidates such as Bernie Sanders or Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez. 

“I appreciate how [Representative Cortez] attacks big corporations such as Facebook and the entire pharmaceutical industry for exploiting their workers and their customers,” Junior Rebecca Gipps said. “AOC is a representative for the people, not for big companies, as many of our current politicians are.” 

When asked which issues concerned each student the most (they could choose three), 72% chose racial justice, followed by COVID-19 at 50%, and abortion and healthcare both at 45%.

71.3% of students would vote “yes” on Ballot Issue 70, which would approve an additional tax to benefit the Cuyahoga County Public Library.

Roughly 1% of students who responded to the survey are registered voters — most are ineligible due to age or citizenship status. It is unknown if the upcoming election will be reflective of the political landscape at BHS. 

Senior Abby Friedman remains hopeful. 

“I think that since there are so many young people who have turned 18 in the past four years that we have a better chance of voting Trump out than we would have before,” she said. “I am hoping that people our age have registered to vote so we have the best chance we have.”