By Amanda Giglio, Amanda Maile and Tara Martinelli

Fordham students, alumni and faculty plan to vote for Hillary Clinton, the Democratic presidential nominee, and are more confident with their pick than with Republican candidate Donald Trump, according to a study conducted by The Fordham Ram between Oct. 22 to Oct. 29. The study received 412 responses from current students, alumni, faculty members and others. Of those surveyed, 399 respondents plan to vote, while 14 do not. 66.2 percent of respondents plan to vote for Clinton, 24.1 percent plan to vote for Trump, six percent plan to vote for libertarian candidate Gary Johnson, four percent plan to vote for Green Party candidate Jill Stein and 2.7 percent plan to vote for other candidates.

Out of the respondents that attend, worked in or graduated from Fordham College at Rose Hill (FCRH), 198 said they were voting for Clinton and 49 said they planned to vote for Trump. Of respondents affiliated with the Gabelli School of Business (GSB) 35 planned to vote for Clinton and 37 planned to vote for Trump.

Gender division among Trump voters affiliated with both colleges was relatively even, as females made up 43 percent of his anticipated voter base and males made up 51 percent. Clinton’s anticipated voter base among both colleges was 72 percent female and 28 percent male.

When asked if they believed the candidate they were voting for would be a good Commander-in-Chief, 70.1 percent of respondents said yes, they were confident in their candidate, while 29.9 percent of respondents said no, they were not confident in their candidate. For Clinton, 28 percent were not confident and 72 percent were confident in her ability as a Commander-in-Chief. For Trump, 33 percent were not confident and 67 percent were confident in Trump’s ability as a Commander-in-Chief.

The survey asked respondents whether their candidate represented the respondent’s beliefs on particular issues that were listed in a recent Pew Research Center survey. The Pew survey concluded that the economy, terrorism and foreign policy were the three most important topics among those surveyed. Fordham students do not reflect these trends.  In the survey conducted by The Fordham Ram, the majority of respondents, regardless of their candidate preference, said they were voting for a particular candidate because he or she represented their views on gun policy (71.4 percent), the treatment of LGBTQ people (66.4 percent) and immigration (65.4 percent). The answer which received the least amount of votes concerned views on social security, only 38.8 percent of respondents checked this box.
Election day falls on Nov. 8, 2016.

Methodology

This study was conducted in a closed poll over a one week time span. Results are based off of 412 respondents. Data was analyzed in Microsoft Excel.