The Elephant(s) in the Room

By Ethan Ziv

The Republican Primary Elections are underway. But what even is a primary election? Who’s running? How will this affect our country? And what does this have to do with the presidential election? This article is a look at the candidates nominated for the chance to run against Joe Biden for president of the United States in November of this year.

Even though the Republicans seem to be the ones most concerned by this primary, Democrats have reason to be paying attention too. This is explained by 6th-grade teacher Miss Davis when she says, “It is possible that we could get a Republican president or a Republican return to power in the Senate, etc, and who is running matters.” What this means is that the winner of this election will be a major deciding factor in the kind of government America will have for the next few years. Everyone’s vote will play a part in setting the stage for not just America, but the entire world.

One of the most relevant candidates, and the favored nominee, is former US president Donald J. Trump. All of the candidates have essentially been running against him for the primary election. However, controversy follows this man wherever he goes, such as him not even being on the ballot in Colorado. According to the elections in Iowa and New Hampshire, Donald Trump is incredibly likely to win the primary, due to winning over numerous Independent voters.

The only other candidate still in the running is Nikki Haley, born Nimrata Nikki Randhawa. Haley served as the first female governor of South Carolina, following six years as a congress representative of the same state. She was the first of the current candidates to challenge Trump, despite previously working under him as the US Ambassador to the United Nations. Most of the focus is on her somewhat recent incident when asked about the cause of the Civil War. she hesitated despite the obvious answer being slavery, which she admitted to later on. Her campaign is trending downward, with her even being turned on by her own state of South Carolina. However, if she wins the primary, Haley will be the first Asian American woman running for president via the GOP.

There was one more candidate who actually stood a chance, but he has since withdrawn from the election: the governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis. He is best known for signing the Parental Rights in Education Act, better known as the “don’t say gay” bill. Chris Christie, Asa Hutchinson, and Vivek Ramaswamy were also present and have since dropped out. So, out of the two nominees still left and not left-wing, who shall run against the incumbent Joe Biden for President of the United States? The primaries will go on, state by state, until we know.