By Aeryn Bautista and Yeisbel Peña

Sixty-six percent of Americans say they’re worried about global warming, according to Yale’s Program on Climate Change Communication. Forty-two percent believe that we’re heading toward a total economic collapse, a YouGov survey found.

For single-issue voters, just one of these concerns can determine their vote. 

Single-issue voting, or the practice of voting for a candidate based on their position on a single issue, has always been a part of American politics. According to some Princeton area residents, that approach is not the path to progress.

“I think you’re selling yourself short if you would vote on a single issue, right?” said Steven A., 31. In his opinion, single-issue voters are “basic.” 

Interviewees from Kingston, NJ, who voted in 2012 were happy to vote for Obama purely based on his handling of unemployment in the aftermath of the Great Recession. Nothing else felt nearly as pressing for them. Today, the same voters describe a more complicated, yet necessary, calculation involving abortion, war, immigration and all else that President Trump’s administration brought to the forefront of American politics. 

Robert Schmidt, 19, voted for Harris in 2024. “I just didn’t like Trump and any of his ideas,” he said. “I didn’t agree with a lot of what Kamala Harris was saying, but I just didn’t agree with Trump as a whole.”

Decades ago, voters relied on print media, speeches and debates for candidate information. Now, they can track aspiring officials’ every word on every policy through short-form content on Instagram, X and TikTok. 

Young people, in particular, find themselves worrying about all aspects of a candidate’s platform that social media draws into the limelight. Many identify themselves completely with positions raised by the left side of the aisle, highlighting how daily political content encourages polarization. 

Reese Eigenbauer, 14, expressed this sentiment in simple terms. “I just don’t really like Trump and what he stands for, and what he was planning on doing when he got into office,” she said.

Residents unfamiliar with the term “single-issue voting” rejected the label immediately once it was explained. 

“Absolutely not,” said Claudine Collins. Her support for Harris, she added, rested on “every reason under the sun.” 

If there was ever a time when a single issue decided an election, the people of Princeton suggest that it is long gone. 

“Life’s a lot more complicated than that,” said Steven A. “Society’s a lot more complicated than that. So why make your vote cast on a single issue?”