On this election day in the United States, President Donald Trump and the Republicans have the support of less than twenty-five percent of the Northwood School community, while more than forty percent prefers Democrats and former President Barack Obama. Support for Trump and the Republicans equaled those who say they “Don’t know and/or don’t care.”
So says an online poll conducted by The Mirror at a recent school meeting. Students, faculty, and staff were asked:
Regarding my political beliefs, I identify more with…
President Trump and the Republicans
Former President Barack Obama and the Democrats
Some other political ideology
Don’t know and/or don’t care
The results show a strong Northwood preference for Democrats and former President Barack Obama:
The Northwood School community is far more left-leaning than the general United States electorate, which is evenly split between support for Democrats and Republicans. According to the latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey of Likely U.S. Voters, 46% favor Republicans, forty-five percent (45%) favor Democrats; three percent (3%) prefer some other candidate, and six percent (6%) are undecided.
The Mirror wrote a piece about the Judge Kavanaugh hearing that some felt was very left-leaning. We received a letter to the editor saying that our coverage of the Kavanaugh confirmation was biased against Mr. Kavanaugh. The article’s authors found many opponents of Kavanaugh and even more who were apathetic about the newly-confirmed Supreme Court Justice, but they say they couldn’t find any students who would express support for Kavanaugh. This led The Mirror staff to wonder, does Northwood lean left politically?
We looked at various groups within the Northwood community and found differences by gender, sport, citizenship, and grade.
Political Preference by Grade
With the exception of 11th graders, who favor Trump/Republicans, students have a slight to a significant preference for Obama/Democrats. Faculty and staff have a strong preference for Obama/Democrats and none of them chose “don’t know and/or don’t care.”
Political Preference by Gender
Most Democrat/Obama supporters are girls and most Republican/Trump supporters are boys:
Political Preference by Sport
Many soccer plays don’t know or care about American politics, which is understandable, considering most Northwood soccer players are from outside the United States. Hockey players have a strong preference for Trump/Republicans, while ski racers and students who don’t participate in one of Northwood’s major sports have a strong preference for Democrats/Obama:
Political Preference by Citizenship
American citizens (below, in green) show a preference for Democrats/Obama and very few don’t know or don’t care about American politics. A majority of non-U.S. citizens don’t know or don’t care, and those who do show a slight preference for Democrats/Obama.
The online survey was administered via mobile devices at school meeting on Friday, November 2, 2018, and was available for two days for students who were not at the meeting. Only people with Northwood School email accounts were permitted to participate and only one response per account was allowed. 201 people participated in the survey, including 162 students and 39 faculty/staff. A summary of who participated is below.
Su Hae Jang ’20 and Mr. John Spear contributed to this article.
