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Hello, everyone! With 14 days until Election Day, we're back for another round of BuzzFeed's 2024 Election Diaries!
This weekly series highlights different groups of voters nationwide to find out what political issues are most important to them AND who they plan to support for president in 2024.
For this week's round, we asked rural Americans of the BuzzFeed Community to share their concerns in this election and who they plan to vote for in November.
56% of respondents said that people in their communities are "extremely motivated" to vote in this election.
77% of respondents to our poll expressed support for Kamala Harris.
While 19% of respondents expressed support for Donald Trump.
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Whether you agree or not, here's what 19 rural Americans had to say:
All photos are AI-generated for anonymity.
1. "I am from rural Appalachia. As you can imagine, 99% of the people I know are very much Trump supporters. I go to the store, and people are walking around with crude Pro-Trump T-shirts; there are signs on vehicles and even flags on homes. However, I am supporting Kamala. There have been SO many factors that led me to this decision."
2. "I live in a rural town of about 15,000 people, and life is hard here. There are not many jobs where you can make a living, and people have two jobs just to survive. The economy and all the fighting overseas are my top issues this election."
3. "I grew up rural, moved away for college, stayed in a big city for a couple of years, and came back to my community as a remote worker. I can empathize with both rural and urban concerns in this election, but housing affordability and healthcare access, especially women’s healthcare, is something that is equally important to my friends in cities and my friends here. In rural communities, we have a closer pulse on nature as well, so we can see climate change happening in real time in front of our eyes. There is no choice for me but Kamala Harris."
4. "To be honest, neither really gives a damn about rural America. I focus my votes on local matters for the improvement of my hometown and state rather than hoping that the president will fix it. That being said, Harris gets my vote. Trump's administration is a nightmare, and I'm sick of seeing the same old white men in politics. I'm hoping that if Harris wins, we'll see an increase in diversity in the cabinet and in Congress."
5. “I live in rural southern Indiana. My town is fairly okay in terms of accepting progress, but we are surrounded by still self-defined ‘sundown towns’ where the minority population is zero because of the very real threat of violence. I’m a social worker, and it would be against everything I’ve dedicated my life and efforts to vote for anyone other than Harris and Walz."
6. "I live in rural Ohio. I feel like Trump has a better plan and has proven himself to be someone who handles the economy better. I think if Kamala was going to fix the economy, then things wouldn't be as expensive as they are now while she's in office. I want to be able to afford to live again."
7. "I am a woman in a very red area, and I voted for Trump in 2016. He was supposed to be more in touch with the everyday man, and I was taken by his division. It was comforting to have an us vs. them. Then, he actively worked to destroy long-established laws and rights. I have friends who almost died from ectopic pregnancy, but were able to get care. I have two daughters, and I cannot go back to where we were. We need someone with an actual plan, not vague concepts."
8. "The environment is my top issue. All the devastation from flooding and hurricanes is a direct result of climate change, and it's destroying rural communities."
9. "Despite all of her flaws (and there are certainly many), I will proudly and enthusiastically cast my vote for Harris in November. In the big picture, I am honestly not sure that our democracy can survive another Trump presidency. But in my day to day, as a teacher in rural New Hampshire, I see the challenges my students face to access basic needs, including care, love, and belonging."
10. "Quite the dilemma we are in. Forced between two inept candidates. In the four years under Trump, I saw my income increase, a normal amount of inflation, and an administration that cared about our border. Kamala already has stated she wouldn't have done anything differently the last four years she was VP, so that tells me the next four years under her will be more inflation and more illegals."
11. "I am supporting Kamala Harris because I am concerned for women's rights in this country. I suffered from infertility, and hearing J.D. Vance mock women who need fertility treatments was really the last straw. If I did not have access to a fertility clinic, I would not be here. They found uterine cancer and caught it early."
12. "I am a 35-year-old white female living in a rural farming community in the Deep South (Alabama). Gun control (specifically banning assault rifles) is my top priority. I am Christian, white, and southern, and everyone around me supports Trump. But I absolutely cannot. His views of minorities, women, and misogynistic and narcissistic traits are something I just cannot look past. I was fairly indifferent in the 2016 election, but the way white Christian nationalists have hailed Trump as the second coming of Jesus has me questioning everything and everyone I have known."
13. "I teach elementary at a public school in southeastern Virginia. If Trump is elected for a second term and Project 2025 is put into effect, my husband and I are BOTH screwed. We love our jobs, we love our schools, and we love our students. We want to keep moving forward, and we want to see life continuing to improve for fellow teachers across this country."
14. "I live in North Carolina, and I'm voting for Donald Trump because liberal policies have destroyed the economy and set the stage for World War III on the global stage. I'd have to be insane to vote for Democrats. Kamala is the new iPhone, and Joe Biden is last year's iPhone. It's the exact same thing, but some people are still too dumb to realize it and buy the new one year after year. Rural America is going to decide this election."
15. "I live in Cambria County in West Central Pennsylvania, and my top issue in this election is helping the lower and middle class. I’ll be voting for Kamala Harris because she has the American workers at heart and will bolster the economy for the middle and lower classes. I believe she unites Americans and is not divisive."
16. "I live in Michigan and work for Stellantis. I have witnessed firsthand the devastating effect that the mandate for electric vehicles is having on our state. It is tragic. I also am a strong female pro-life advocate, having had an abortion myself in my younger years. Almost 40 years ago, and I have regretted that choice every day."
17. “I have no doubt that if Trump is elected, he'll move quickly to end aid to Ukraine, which could result in their defenses being overrun by massive Russian assault waves. I support Ukraine because I am anti-Putin, and I was anti-Soviet when I was a kid. Putin wants Russia to return to Soviet glory again. There is a certain amount of irony that people are pro-Putin now when he represents the Soviet-style government that we were so against back in the 1980s.”
18. "The cost of living, groceries, housing, and insurance is through the roof. I believe Trump can and will fix the economy. His plan for reducing energy prices makes economic sense and will make life more affordable for every person in America. The economy was great under his last presidency. Also, all the freebies Harris wants to hand out piss me off."
And finally...
19. "Women's bodily autonomy is most important to me. As a female, I'm extremely concerned with my rights being completely stripped away from me (I live in a state that would still outlaw abortion). I'm worried about my nephew's future and what this world will look like when he is my age. America cannot survive another four years under Trump; I see it where I live; individuals are all of a sudden bold in their opinions because they've had a president who encourages those 'values.'"
Let us know your thoughts in the comments below and we'll see you for the next round.
All responses have been edited for length/clarity.
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