In August, we asked Kentuckians to fill out a survey about voting in this year’s presidential election. Forty one people from Louisville and other parts of Kentucky answered the survey and shared their thoughts and concerns ahead of Election Day.
The concerns before the election
Of the 41 respondents, 13 said they were worried about women’s health care, abortion access and reproductive rights.
Since the overturning of Roe v. Wade, Louisville resident Jackson Davis told LPM News they’re worried about pregnant women who may experience birth complications.
“Women are dying from lack of care and just not getting what they need while they're pregnant, [or] while they're trying to end their pregnancy…and it's not easy to watch people go through that kind of thing,” Davis said.
For Davis, reproductive rights are personal. They said their mother had an ectopic pregnancy — which can be life threatening — when Davis was a child.
“I was too young to understand at the time, but she said it kind of crushed her,” Davis said. “I [now] understand that you're losing the child that you thought you were going to have, and if you went to term, you could have lost your life.”
Other voters have their eyes on international conflicts. In the survey, Fern Creek resident Steven Royalty said he planned to withhold his vote in this election if nothing is done to achieve a ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
“I am gladly voting on down-ballot candidates and amendments, but unlikely to support a presidential candidate unless something changes,” Royalty said in the survey.
Royalty isn’t the only Kentuckian planning to withhold their vote this presidential election.
At the Democratic National Convention earlier this year, three Kentucky delegates voted uncommitted in the ceremonial roll call, saying they couldn’t vote for Vice President Kamala Harris unless she advocated for a ceasefire in Gaza and an arms embargo in Israel.
The “uncommitted” vote comes amid a nationwide movement to draw attention to ending the war in Gaza.
Among other issues, respondents said they were also worried about inflation, the war in Ukraine, health care costs and affordable housing.
Vice President Kamala Harris
According to the survey, about 90% of respondents said they plan to vote for Harris on Nov. 5.
The reasons the Democratic nominee will receive their vote are mixed.
Several other respondents plan on voting for Harris to keep Donald Trump out of office for his second term.
“I'm afraid that he will either do absolutely nothing or do something terrible,” Jeffersontown resident Whitney King told LPM News.
Highlands resident Rick Harned said he thinks Harris is more qualified to run the country.
“I think we clearly need a president who understands the role, who can unite the country or bring a lot of people together to understand the policies, and somebody who respects the law,” Harned said.
Jackson Davis — who identifies as a nonbinary woman — said the U.S. has felt increasingly hostile and discriminatory for the LGBTQ+ community.
“I was genuinely applying for citizenship [in] other places…. I applied to Canada,” Davis said.
They said the Harris-Walz ticket would better protect their rights and their identity.
“I cannot do another Trump run as a queer woman with another queer woman in the state of Kentucky or even in the United States,” they said.
Of the respondents who indicated they plan to vote for Harris, 13 said electing her would restore, protect and preserve democracy.
These respondents said they want to see a peaceful transition of power, but they are afraid of the opposite if Trump loses come election night.
“My biggest concern is that if Kamala Harris wins the election that Donald Trump and MAGA leaders in some states will try to refute the election results,” Highlands resident Joanie Prentice said in the survey. “I don't think he will accept the election results and will put the country into turmoil trying to win by any means.”
At a press conference last week following the vice presidential debate, President Joe Biden echoed the concern for potential violence.
“I’m confident it will be free and fair. I don’t know whether it'll be peaceful,” Biden said. “The things that Trump has said and the things that he said last time out, when he didn’t like the outcome of the election, were very dangerous.”
During the vice presidential debate, Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, was asked if he and Trump would accept the 2024 election results if they didn’t win. Vance didn’t directly answer the question. Instead, he said they were “focused on the future.”
The support Democrats enjoy in Louisville isn't reflected across the state. Kentucky's eight electoral votes went to Trump in 2020, when he lost his reelection campaign to Biden. The last time the commonwealth went for a Democrat was 1996.
This story has been updated to include context about voting trends in Kentucky.
