At the Temple Terrace Library, citizens spent their Tuesday afternoon getting out the vote for their candidate. Just outside they were asked what issues mattered to them.
Neida Mitchell (left), 41, went out to vote with her son, a first-time voter, Noble Evans(right) , 18.
“It’s just feels like I’m taking the right step forward,” Evans says. “Helping out with what I can as, as a voter, as a young voter, to get the right person to office.”
Mitchell, after taking photos of her son receiving his first ballot, said she had to really think about who would get her vote.
“Well, I went back and forth for a little bit,” Mitchell said. “But I think maybe just as recently as probably a couple of days ago, I finally had my mind set on who I was going to vote for.”
Samantha Farr, 26, was happy to be able to vote this election cycle.
“Last time the election came around, I never got the chance,” Farr said. “ I wasn’t registered. I was still new to the state, and I knew that this time, even a couple of people doing it, can always make a difference.”
Farr, with the help of her friends, was able to come and out and have her voice heard.
“My friend helped me get here, but he was like, ‘are you going to vote this year?’ (so, I said,) ‘I’ve been trying to!’” Farr said. “I wanted to vote for who I wanted to vote for a while now.”
Chelsea Coombes, 27, came to vote early for two specific issues.
“Definitely climate change… I graduated environmental studies with advocacy for social justice. So that’s kind of a big issue for me,” Coombes said. “ I feel like we don’t pay enough attention to climate change, and the attention that we are paying is more of just kind of like talking about it, but we’re not really taking any action.”
Coombes also felt health care was another big topic issue that is important to this election.
“Public health is a big issue, specifically insurance,” Coombes said. “I think there’s a huge gap in who’s getting insurance and who’s not.”
Former educator Delores Lyon, 76, is a frequent early voter.
“Well, I think this, this election is probably the most important election in my lifetime so far,” Lyons said. “I first early voted the second year or third year that they had it available. And then when I realized how convenient it was that I just kept doing it.”
Lyons talked about issues like health care and education, but another big factor for her was beating the incumbent President in the general election.
“I want to beat Donald Trump…I just think that he has done more to divide this nation than anything I’ve ever witnessed,” Lyons said. “I first got involved in politics, actually it was after Kennedy’s death…that (when I) was aware of the importance of the presidency and everything…during that election.”
Laura Gomez, 59, came out to vote for the incumbent President.
“I’m making sure that the country is on the right path.” Gomez said.
For Gomez, it was no question on who she was voting for.
“I decided for Donald Trump from the beginning. Since I voted for him last year,” Gomez said. “He’s been doing what he said he was going to do.”
Patricia Pfister (left) , 66, and Hapi McKenzie (right), 72, make up the duo “The Crabgrass Cowboys” and have been married for 23 years.
They said things like social security, the environment and securing children’s futures are the things most important to them.
And for them, deciding who to vote for was not a hard pick.
“I’ve had my choice since the last election” McKenzie said.
