Junior Quinn Delamater and sophomore Ariel McDowell (right to left) announce election results on air. Courtesy | Olivia Pero
Every time a state turned red, attendees in the Searle Center erupted into applause as radio students live-broadcasted election results on Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM.
Students interviewed guests by phone and in person, including White House Correspondent for The Daily Caller Reagan Reese ’22, Republican Jennifer Wortz, who was elected the 35th District State House Representative, and Associate Professor of Politics Joseph Postell.
The Searle Center election coverage concluded before the presidential race results were officially announced. Students attending the event shared mixed feelings about the direction of the election throughout the evening.
Junior Hinson Peed, president of Hillsdale College Republicans, said he thinks Radio Free Hillsdale’s event in Searle Center was amazing.
“You don’t see this at most colleges. We have such great guests, analysts, and anchors. It’s really a great event,” Peed said.
Sophomore Julia Rentmeester said she enjoyed the event a lot.
“I like that we’re hearing from professors, students and actual representatives about the election,” Rentmeester said. “It’s really helping me be better informed.”
Freshman Kathryn Vieceli said she thought former President Donald Trump would win the presidential race because he had 23 electoral votes around 8 p.m. while Kamala only had three.
“I know it’s only in a couple states, but already in West Virginia one of the seats in the Senate has flipped to Republican, and that’s absolutely amazing,” Vieceli said. “We already won Kentucky, so that’s really good too.”
Freshman Ashlyn Unangst said she is the type of person who expects the worst, so she said Vice President Kamala Harris would probably win the election.
“With more of Gen Z being able to vote, I think younger voters are more likely to lean toward Kamala, so I’m expecting that but hoping for a Trump win,” Unangst said around 8 p.m.
Senior Dominic Pizano said he voted for Trump.
“I’m very anti-abortion, so that’s my main reason for voting,” Pizano said around 9 p.m. “I think it’s going to come down to Pennsylvania. Of all the swing states, I think it’s probably the most important. I’m really unsure of what’s going to happen, but I’m leaning toward Trump.”
Sophomore Zach Briley said around 10 p.m. the race looked OK for Trump.
“Obviously that’s my dog in the fight here,” Briley said. “I think we’ve got a couple states that are gonna be really important still. I like how Ohio is trending for the Senate, but there’s still a lot of time left in the night.”
Sophomore Mercy Franzonello said she loved the event in Searle Center. She also said she really wanted Trump to win.
“I’m feeling pretty confident, pretty hopeful, praying pretty hard,” Franzonello said. “You never know how it’s going to turn out, but I’m really hoping Trump wins.”
Peed said at around 10 p.m. he was feeling really good about the election.
“I’ll be honest, my predictions were that it would be a really tight race, but it looks like it’s possibly going to be a landslide. A lot of these swing states are turning red,” Peed said. “It does look like Republicans will take the White House, the Senate, and the House.”