With Election Day upcoming on Nov. 5, members of the Studio City community reflected on both presidential candidates and their positions on major issues, such as the economy, the state of democracy and current diplomatic affairs.
Leon David, a former Democrat who now operates a pro-Trump merchandise booth across from Ralphs, said freedom of speech and peace are the most important election issues for him.
“The biggest thing that matters to me in this country is that we have a right to free speech,” David said. “I see the Democrats on the left trying to take that away. They did it with COVID-19. They did it with any talk of the vaccine. They did it with any talk of the election. They did it with any talk of anything that they don’t agree with.”
David also said he is concerned about maintaining peace and bringing an end to the ongoing wars.
“The second biggest issue to me is I want peace, and I don’t want people to die from wars,” David said. “When Trump was [in power] were no new wars. Now we have two wars going and a possible third war starting because we are portraying weakness, and we give money to the people that terrorize.”
Sam Roberts, a recent college graduate raised in Texas, said human rights and nature preservation are essential topics to consider when voting for the next president.
“I would hate to see things go in a backwards direction in terms of people’s rights and their ability to live as they please,” Roberts said. “And then, more locally, I feel helping out with environmental awareness and housing crises is important. I know there’s a couple propositions that could really steer things in either direction.”
Finally, some citizens do not wish to cast a vote for either candidate. Many voters feel similarly; in the most recent 2020 election, voter turnout only represented about 66% of eligible voters, despite being the highest turnout of any presidential election to date, according to the United States Census Bureau.
Christian Meza, an employee at the Ralphs on Ventura Blvd. and Coldwater Canyon Avenue said the upcoming election will be unfair and that his interests are not represented by either candidate.
“I don’t believe we have a fair election,” Meza said. “I think that we don’t really have a choice. I think both candidates for me personally, they don’t do nothing [anything] for me as a regular, average worker, average person. For me, a big issue is healthcare and medicare, as well as the crazy discrepancy in rent and unaffordability. I’m a guy that works 40 hours a week, 48 sometimes, and a couple of years ago, that was enough to get a one bedroom apartment. Now I have to go above and beyond just to make ends meet.”
