The Republican Party has made headlines this year for its split opinion on 1968 Wharton graduate Donald Trump. Republicans at Penn have encountered a similar divide among themselves.
Some Republicans at the University are opting to vote for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, a third party candidate or abstain from the election.
Wharton sophomore Nile Nwogu identifies as conservative, but he is among the Republicans who plan to vote for Clinton in the presidential election.
“As someone very passionate about policy, once the primary was over, I thought it would be hard for me to vote for Clinton when I disagree with her on a lot,” Nwogu said. “But for this election, I think rhetoric definitely trumped policy.”
Nwogu plans on splitting the ticket between the presidential and congressional races on November 8.
“I will also be voting Senator Pat Toomey [the Republican Senate candidate for Pennsylvania] because I think that if we can save the Senate, that will force Hillary to be quite moderate with her Supreme Court nominee,” he said.
Other Penn Republicans cited the recently uncovered Hollywood Access video that captured Trump discussing aggressive sexual advances on women as a factor in their vote.
“In my opinion, anyone that is responding to accusations of sexual assault by saying ‘look at her,’ is not fit for president,” Wharton freshman Worth Gentry said, “and especially not fit for bipartisan cooperation.”
Gentry, a conservative, is “voting for Johnson unenthusiastically” because of the manner Trump has handled issues in his campaign.
“It'd also help if he were representative or respectful of the party and its platform,” Gentry added.
Wharton senior Grayson Sessa said that he was disillusioned with the idea of a Trump candidacy since the first presidential debate against Clinton.
“When he was so unprepared for the first debate, I pretty much lost any desire to vote for him,” Sessa said, “and then the video certainly sealed the deal.”
Sessa isn’t sure how he will vote on Election Day.
“I still don’t like Hillary Clinton — although I want her to be president — so I’m going to write in Jeb Bush or vote for Gary Johnson,” he said.
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