Who will Rock Hill pick? Some are excited about primary voting. Others are unaware.
Former Vice President Joe Biden has long been seen as the favorite among South Carolina voters. A recent poll by Winthrop University supported that trend, showing that of the 443 likely Democratic voters surveyed, most favored Biden.
But Sen. Bernie Sanders has claimed wins in the three early state primaries. Now, the country is waiting to see whether South Carolina will support the candidate who has long held first place here, or continue Sanders’ winning streak.
A walk through the streets of Rock Hill — in one of South Carolina’s fastest growing economic regions — revealed two extremes. College-aged voters seemed engaged and, in some cases, enthusiastic about participating in the primary.
Adults seemed calmly aware of the presidential race. Some had opinions but didn’t want to speak on record. Others were unaware of the candidates and didn’t plan to vote.
In the 2016 Democratic presidential primary, voter turnout was just over half of what it was in the 2008 primary with 12.5% of registered voters casting ballots. Experts say voter turnout in primaries is usually low. But a low turnout means a small but enthusiastic group could sway results.
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Jasmine Love, 18, wore a bright pink sweatshirt and gray sweatpants. She balanced on a cane right outside the cafeteria at Clinton College. She battled brain cancer in high school. And the only physical remnants of the cancer is the cane and a few inches-long scar on the back of her head.
She lives on campus at Clinton, but she’s registered to vote in North Carolina, so she plans to vote in that primary on Super Tuesday. Although most students walking the campus seemed informed about the race, Love was the only one willing to share her thoughts.
“I don’t think Joe Biden is going to win,” she said. “I think Bernie (Sanders) has more of a chance because Bernie has the younger people. That’s where I think every candidate should go for — the younger people.”
She’s pretty sure she’s going to vote for Sanders, but she wants to look into the other candidates’ campaigns.
“I don’t consider myself a Democrat,” she said. “I just consider myself a liberal. I go with anybody that I feel like they’re speaking to me and they’re saying things that I like.”
Because of Love’s experience in and out of hospitals, she wants a candidate who prioritizes health care. But she’s also concerned with canceling college debt and improving the criminal justice system.
“The justice system is just unequal,” she said. “I don’t see how people can say the justice system is equal. Black and white people are not (treated) equal. They don’t think they ever will be equal.”
And like most Democrats, Love wants to get President Donald Trump out of office.
“If you don’t go out and vote, then what’s the point of complaining about the government? If you didn’t go out and vote .... it’s kind of your fault that we had this type of president in office,” Love said.
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At a body shop in Rock Hill Wednesday afternoon, the owner was washing a car. His son was messing with some tools in the back. Both were aware of the election. Neither knew the primary was a few days away.
The owner didn’t want to talk about the race. His son said he was happy to talk about politics, but he hadn’t had the time to look into the candidates.
“I don’t even know the difference between a Democrat and a Republican, honestly,” he said.
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Tony Adorno-Colon, 24, sat at a high top table eating his lunch in Winthrop’s student union. He wore a green shirt that read, “Who needs luck? I have charm.” About ten friends played pool at a table beside him. Some of his friends were planning to vote but hadn’t picked a candidate. Adorno-Colon had. A friend sitting across from Adorno-Colon quietly asked him who he was voting for.
“Buttigang,” Adorno-Colon, from Lexington, South Carolina, told his friend. He was referring to Mayor of South Bend, Ind., Pete Buttigieg.
“I think he has some good stances on a wide variety of issues like his stance on climate change and possibly taxing carbon emissions is good,” Adorno-Colon said. “I think he has a good stance on health care and reworking the system.”
Adorno-Colon studies conservation biology at Winthrop, so he wants a candidate with a plan to tackle climate change.
“Climate change is a passion of mine,” he said. “I’ve been studying it since I was a young boy. And I’ve been doing papers and research on it and I’m pretty passionate about the need for human intervention to stop climate change.”
Adorno-Colon was taken off his parent’s health care plan a few years ago because of cost, so right now, he doesn’t have health insurance. He relies on the Winthrop’s health services.
He likes Buttigieg’s plan to build on Obama’s Affordable Care Act.
“I think while ACA was a good start, the delivery turned out not as great as we had hoped,” he said. “And now, it’s been chopped at the knees with the things the Trump administration has done by taking away funding from it.”
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The owner of a Rock Hill upholsterer was alone in his store Wednesday afternoon. He was measuring blue fabric to put on several dental chairs.
Similar to the men at the body shop, the upholsterer was aware of the presidential race. He knew there were too many Democratic candidates to count, but he didn’t know anything about them.
“I’ve honestly been so busy with the business, I haven’t had a chance to look at the candidates,” he said. “Let me get caught up on it and then you can come back another time?”
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Miriam Muhammad, 21, stood behind the counter at Sub Station II. She wore an apron and hat with the restaurant’s logo on it. On her left arm, she had a tattoo with the word, “Smile” written in cursive. Muhammad was a student at Winthrop, but she is transferring.
“I was leaning toward Andrew Yang, but he just dropped out recently,” she said. “So, now I’m looking at Elizabeth Warren. I was thinking Bernie Sanders, but the age thing is kind of an issue for me.”
Muhammad said she likes Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s policies on education and health care, but she is worried Warren doesn’t have a plan for world relations.
“When the health care system got changed in 2017,” Muhammad said. “I was denied health care. I was 19, making below poverty level, living on my own in college and I was like, ‘Why am I being denied health care?’ I should be the person that you’re aiming for to get health care and so that’s really important to me.”
She also wants a candidate who will forgive student debt and combat climate change. And although she recognized Sanders has policies similar to Warren’s, Muhammad couldn’t look past the fact that Sanders is 78.
“I’m looking for someone who cares about the environment, which Bernie Sanders does a lot, which I really like, but I just can’t get past the whole health thing — like he just had a heart attack and that really scares me,” she said.
WANT TO VOTE IN THE PRIMARY?
South Carolina’s Democratic presidential primary is Saturday, Feb. 29 and polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Twelve Democratic presidential candidates will be on the ballot, according to the South Carolina Election Commission.
The state has an open primary system, which means a voter does not have to be a registered Democrat to cast a ballot in the primary. South Carolina voters don’t have to register by party.
The state will only hold one primary Saturday. South Carolina’s Republican Party executive committee voted to skip the party’s 2020 presidential preference primary, The State reported.
Voters can find precinct locations on the website for the York County Office of Voter Registration and Elections.
This story was originally published February 27, 2020 at 3:37 PM with the headline "Who will Rock Hill pick? Some are excited about primary voting. Others are unaware.."
