November 5 is upon us. Tensions are high, but the Orient is here to break down all the information about Bowdoin’s political opinions.

This year, the Orient conducted an election survey of the Bowdoin community that included students, faculty and staff, which yielded 573 responses, consisting of 374 students, 63 faculty and 134 staff responses. Beyond just the data collected from the College community, the Orient also talked to individuals directly involved in political life on campus through Bowdoin Democrats, Bowdoin Conservatives and Bowdoin Votes.

VOTER PARTICIPATION AND AWARENESS

Just over 94 percent of respondents in the Orient survey said they were eligible to vote in this election. Out of the ineligible voters, almost 82 percent reported they were ineligible because they were not U.S. citizens, and over 15 percent responded they weren’t old enough to cast a ballot.

Of student respondents who reported they were eligible to vote, over 99 percent reported they intended to vote with the remainder either not planning to vote or still deciding. This is the same as the student survey four years ago when nearly 99 percent of students also reported planning to vote.

Campus members not planning to vote in this election reported several reasons for this choice, including foreign policy.

“I will not vote for a participant in genocide,” a student from the Class of 2025 said.

“Neither candidate addresses root problems in this country,” a student from the Class of 2026 said.

Sixty-eight percent of campus members planning to vote said they were casting their ballot in Maine, while the remainder reported they were voting in a range of other states. The most common other state was Massachusetts with over 14 percent of respondents planning to cast their ballot there.

Pennsylvania was second, with 11 percent of non-Maine voters, followed by New York and Virginia, both with just under seven percent of those intending to vote.

Campus members additionally reported different levels of political awareness about candidates across the races in which they intend to vote.

Overall, on a ten-point scale, with ten representing complete awareness and zero representing no awareness, campus members ranked themselves at an average of 7.92 at the federal level. However, respondents were less confident in their awareness at the state level with an average score of 5.41 and even less confident in their awareness at the local level with an average score of 4.40.

The relative lack of awareness about Brunswick politics showed across the board with students, faculty and staff all reporting the lowest awareness at the local level and the most at the federal level.

However, across the board, faculty reported the highest average confidence in their awareness across all three levels of government. Staff were next, followed by students with the lowest level of confidence, which especially showed at the local and state levels.

While students reported an average confidence of 4.86 for their vote at the state level, staff reported an average confidence of 6.29, and faculty reported an even higher average confidence level of 6.67. At the local level, students' confidence dropped to an average of 3.78, showing a relative lack of understanding of town politics among the student body.

At a federal and state level, the Class of 2026 was the most confident in their awareness with scores averaging 8.05 for federal and 5.14 for state. The Class of 2025 was second most confident at the federal and state level, with scores of 7.74 and 4.93, respectively.

However, the Class of 2025 was last in confidence to vote on the local level with an average score of 3.85. The Class of 2028 ranked first in local confidence with an average of 4.26, and the Class of 2026 ranked second with an average of 4.20.

PARTISAN CLUB REFLECTIONS

When it comes to partisan political activity on campus, Bowdoin Democrats and the newly-formed Bowdoin Conservatives are at the helm of student programming. Both clubs have offered programming in the lead-up to the election, from informal meetings to debate watch parties.

For Bowdoin Democrats leader Brittany Yue ’27, the College offers a comfortable environment where students can navigate partisan politics.

“I'd say that it's honestly a pretty productive environment,” Yue said. “Even though a lot of people may not agree with a different ideology, they don't go out of their way to be rude or tear others down.”

Bowdoin Conservatives founder Zak Asplin ’27 said that while the College is perceived as a left-leaning, progressive campus, the reality of the political landscape on campus is much more complicated.

“I think that actually, Bowdoin is a far more moderate environment and one where a great diversity of political views exist,” he said. “They're not represented, and that's the issue.”

Asplin said he’s found himself “shoe-boxed” on campus because of his conservatism—a feeling that occasionally comes up in the classroom and stifles like-minded peers less willing to speak up.

“I feel like most of the professors at Bowdoin, regardless of their politics, are open to hearing more in the classroom,” Asplin said. “There are definitely circumstances where people would feel restrained from serious engagement because of their worries about a grade,… but I think that’s a minority.”

Both Yue and Bowdoin Democrats co-leader Natalie Emmerson ’27 have easily found like-minded people in their classes and felt comfortable sharing their opinions. If anything, Emmerson wishes she could feel less comfortable.

“There are times when I wish my beliefs were challenged more in class,” she said.

PARTISANSHIP

On a scale of zero to 100, with zero being the most liberal and 100 being the most conservative, students, faculty and staff all averaged moderately liberal. Students averaged 29.46, faculty averaged 26.42 and staff averaged 31.32, with the most extreme responses being 0 on the left and the farthest right being 100.

An overwhelming majority of Bowdoin students, faculty and staff support Kamala Harris, with 91 percent of the campus community polled indicating that they intend to vote for her. This number was made up of 91 percent of polled students supporting Harris, as well as 88 percent and 92 percent of faculty and staff, respectively. Donald Trump amassed six percent of respondents, and Jill Stein achieved two percent. In the 2020 Orient election survey, Joe Biden achieved 91 percent of respondent support. Results for Donald Trump and the Green Party candidate were also very similar to 2020, with 5 percent expressing intentions to vote for Trump and two percent supporting Howie Hawkins, the 2020 Green Party candidate.

When asked whether their political views are represented by either of the two major presidential candidates, 64 percent of students agreed that Kamala Harris or Donald Trump aligned with their perspective, compared to 75 percent of staff members. Faculty members fell in the middle, with 67 percent feeling at least one of the candidates represents their views.

Among the 357 respondents who vote in Maine, the vast majority, 79 percent, support Angus King for U.S. Senate, 15 percent support David Costello, three percent are for Demi Kouzounas and two percent for other candidates. In the Maine District 1 House race, Chellie Pingree captured 81 percent of the respondents' votes, and Ronald Russell took four percent.

On the Maine referendum questions, yes seemed to be the answer, with 90 percent of respondents intending to vote yes on Question 1 and 88 percent intending to vote yes on Question 5.

The Orient asked respondents to indicate the top five factors influencing their decisions regarding their votes out of 16 factors in total, not including the “other” category. Reproductive health access was the most cited, with 16 percent, and climate change came next, with 15 percent among students, staff and faculty.

“One of my biggest issues is reproductive freedom. I am voting for candidates whom I believe will fight to codify these rights and effectively squash movements from the opposing side that attempt to strip women of their bodily autonomy,” a student from the Class of 2027 said when asked to expand on what impacted their choice in who they would vote for.

Some students also elaborated on how climate change would affect voters’ decisions.

“​​Climate change is far and away my biggest concern, and I’m somewhat disappointed it’s not a more pressing political issue, as it poses an existential threat to tens of millions of Americans,” a student from the Class of 2028 said.

This ranking of reproductive health access and climate change shows some change from the 2020 survey, which asked respondents to rank up to three factors out of ten not including “other.” In the previous survey, environmental issues ranked first with 19 percent, and racial justice ranked second with 18 percent of students putting it in the top three. Reproductive rights and abortion ranked fourth with eight percent, showing the impact of the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade on this year's election.

The third, fourth and fifth most important issues for all respondents in 2024 are gun violence at 10 percent, state of moral values at 9 percent and affordability of healthcare at 8 percent respectively. For students and staff individually, the third, fourth and fifth most important factors were the same as the general result. However, faculty showed interest in different factors with more people ranking racism and foreign policy in their top five rather than gun violence and the state of moral values.

Some respondents wrote about factors impacting their decisions that were not included in the 16 categories chosen from the Pew Research Center survey. These include democracy, Palestine and LGBTQ+ rights. Respondents expressed concerns for democracy and LGBTQ+ rights under Trump and were similarly concerned about Harris’s and the Democratic Party’s stance on Palestine.

“Trump’s policy on all fronts is simply detrimental no matter how you frame it. It is horrible policy democratically, socially, economically…. Kamala Harris is bad on Palestine, the economy, tries to force bipartisanship, etc. She is the lesser evil, but Trump is fascistic,” a student from the Class of 2027 said.

CONCLUSION

All this data about political alignment is a reminder that a campus environment encourages students to learn to express themselves politically—especially in a contentious election year.

Zak Asplin ’27 is optimistic that Bowdoin Conservatives will allow students to practice expressing themselves while interfacing with a range of political worldviews.

“There's probably more Democrats than there are Republicans in the club,” Asplin said.

Bowdoin Democrats co-leader Natalie Emmerson ’27 said she values the chance to engage with people like Asplin—even if their views don’t align.

“I do think the Bowdoin Conservatives have gotten a certain amount of flak for having created their organization,” she said. “I personally don't agree with the views of the Bowdoin Conservatives. But listening to the views they bring makes me a better thinker, and it makes me a better political advocate.”

Emmerson and co-leader Brittany Yue ’27 believe researched, student debates in a controlled, moderated setting are an important way to foster constructive interactions. They’re hoping to explore collaborations with Bowdoin Conservatives to organize debates and other less formal opportunities for conversation. On Saturday, the clubs will come together to co-moderate the U.S. senate debate in Kresge Auditorium.

Yue wants people to get involved, no matter where they stand.

“There are a ton of different political advocacy and issue-centered groups on campus, and I think it's wonderful if you're involved in some of them, even if it's not the Bowdoin Democrats,” Yue said.

Nonpartisan student groups, like Bowdoin Votes, are working hard to make voting accessible for all students. Bowdoin Votes Coordinator Ellen Salovaara ’26 is making final preparations ahead for the election on Tuesday.

“Voting can seem like a really daunting process, and it can be overwhelming for college students who have so much going on,” she said. “Our goal overall with Bowdoin Votes is to bring voting to students.”

While Salovaara has encountered some cynicism from students about the election process, she said she’s inspired by the student body’s interest in getting politically active. Though she reports people being primarily interested in federal elections, she is also happy to see people get excited about races further down the ballot in Maine and their home states.

After attending the NESCAC Votes conference, Salovaara said the College stands out as “exemplary” among its peers regarding political participation. She attributes this success in part to the support of the McKeen Center for the Common Good.

“Getting to push the partisan politics aside and say, ‘Let's focus on voting as a part of our identity, as part of fighting for our community, as part of exercising our human right that we have,’ is [important],” she said.

Janet Briggs, Catalina Escobedo, Emma Kilbride, Shihab Moral, Claire Shim and Campbell Treschuk contributed to this report.

Read about the methodology for this survey here, along with the questions and anonymized data.