One Month Until Election Day

  You've probably heard quite a lot about the upcoming presidential election, but in case you haven't, or you're looking for a summary, here's a quick rundown of all the important information.

In our last presidential race update, we still had a wide variety of candidates vying for the nominations. Over the summer, the Republican and Democratic National Conventions determined each party's candidate for president: Donald Trump, with running mate J.D. Vance, for the Republicans, and Kamala Harris, with running mate Tim Walz, for the Democrats. 

Election day in 2024 is on November 5th (We have the day off from school). The presidential and vice-presidential debates have already happened, on September 10th and October 1st, respectively. The presidential debate between Harris and Trump was contentious, as the candidates debated about the economy, immigration, abortion, healthcare, and a variety of other issues. NPR fact-checked the debate in a clear and concise manner, and I would recommend reading their article here for a more in depth exploration of some of the major points of the debate. 

Harris and Trump are still polling very close together nationally, although Harris has made some headway, especially after the presidential debate. However, some pollsters have cautioned against placing too much value on polls, saying that many are biased or don't show the full picture. 

The vice-presidential debate on October 1st was less contentious than the presidential debate. Walz and Vance spoke on a variety of topics similar to the ones covered in the presidential debate, and both misspoke at points. Overall, the debate was fairly civil and the candidates were evenly matched.

As we move closer to Election Day, campaigning by both candidates will amp up as they try to sway voters in a very close race: a race that is also heavily affected by world events, like the war in Ukraine and the Israel-Hamas conflict, and domestic events, like the recent Hurricane Helene. 

Works Cited

“2024 Presidential Election Calendar - 270towin.” 270toWin, Electoral Ventures LLC, www.270towin.com/2024-presidential-election-calendar/. Accessed 6 Oct. 2024. 

Daniels, Eugene. “What the Polls Are Really Saying.” Politico, Politico, 5 Oct. 2024, www.politico.com/news/magazine/2024/10/05/what-the-polls-are-really-saying-00182588. 

Montanaro, Domenico. “Who Is the Real JD Vance? And 4 Other Takeaways from the Vice Presidential Debate.” NPR, NPR, 2 Oct. 2024, www.npr.org/2024/10/02/g-s1-25869/vp-debate-tim-walz-jd-vance-takeaways. 

Staff, NPR. “NPR Fact-Checked the Harris-Trump Presidential Debate. Here’s What We Found.” NPR, NPR, 11 Sept. 2024, www.npr.org/2024/09/11/g-s1-21932/fact-check-trump-harris-presidential-debate-2024. 

the Visual Journalism and Data teams. “US Election Polls Tracker 2024: Who Is Ahead - Harris or Trump?” BBC News, BBC, 5 Oct. 2024, www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj4x71znwxdo.