Nine Annenberg Media reporters asked California voters casting ballots a series of questions to get a sense of the mood of the electorate on Super Tuesday. They asked the voters who they chose in the U.S. Senate primary, which presidential primary they selected, to assign a score of 1-10 to President Biden and to describe the election in one word. Their answers and voices are below.
Name: Jackson Sutherlin
Age: 21
Job: Fourth-year psychology student at USC
Neighborhood: Westchester
Primary ballot: Democratic
1-10 score for President Biden: 6
Describe the election in one word: Divisive
U.S. Senate seat vote: Katie Porter
“[Biden] has passed meaningful infrastructure laws and is trying to do his best in the Ukraine situation, but I feel like the Republican Party is actively doing everything they can to not let him do what he needs to do.”
— Alexandra Goldberg
Name: Lina Urquiza
Age: 20
Job: Second-year American pop culture and social science student at USC
Neighborhood: University Park
Primary ballot: Democratic
1-10 score for President Biden: 6 or 7
Describe the election in one word: Confusing
U.S. Senate seat vote: Barbara Lee
“I think there’s improvement that could be made [regarding President Biden’s performance], but there’s no perfect candidate, unfortunately.”
— Alexandra Goldberg
Name: Natalie Williams
Age: 20
Job: Third-year biochemistry student at USC
Neighborhood: University Park
Primary ballot: Democratic
1-10 score for President Biden: 6
Describe the election in one word: Complicated
U.S. Senate seat vote: Katie Porter
“From what I’ve seen — especially handling Palestine — [Biden] just hasn’t done a great job and he’s not good at vocalizing his plans. … He just rambles on and you don’t really know what he’s talking about.”
— Alexandra Goldberg
Name: Gaveen Godage
Age: 21
Job: Student
Neighborhood: From DTLA
Primary ballot: Democratic (voted for Biden)
1-10 score for President Biden: 7.5
Describe the election in one word: Mysterious
U.S. Senate seat vote: Dr. Sepi Gilani
“I don’t think [Biden] has problems reaching the youth. I think the biggest concern across any age group is his age and physical health.”
— Michael Gribbon
Name: Rushawnda Russ
Age: 23
Job: Student
Neighborhood: From LA
Primary ballot: Democratic (voted for Marianne Williamson)
1-10 score for President Biden: 7
Describe the election in one word: Dynamic
U.S. Senate seat vote: Katie Porter
“I wouldn’t say that [Biden is] the worst president that we’ve had but I don’t think he’s the best president we’ve had. I think we can do a lot better in terms of transparency and at least knowing what he’s doing for the county, public perception and being more involved.”
— Michael Gribbon
Name: Audrey Serrano
Age: 19
Job: Student
Neighborhood: From San Diego
Primary ballot: Democratic (voted for Biden)
1-10 score for President Biden: 3
Describe the election in one word: F*ck
U.S. Senate seat vote: Barbara Lee
“I’m in a film history class and we’ve been watching videos of Biden from the 90′s and he was already old then. He’s kinda been old forever.”
— Michael Gribbon
Name: Olive Petty
Age: 19
Job: USC freshman, narrative studies major
Neighborhood: From LA
Primary ballot: Democratic
1-10 score for President Biden: 6
Describe the election in one word: Messy
U.S. Senate seat vote: Katie Porter
“I think that [Biden] is, for me personally, he’s not left-leaning enough. I think that he still has a lot of progress that he should make. He hasn’t done that much. But also, he has done a lot for the economy, especially coming back from COVID. And, obviously, much better than our predecessor, in my opinion, Donald Trump.”
– Angelina Hicks
Name: James Smith
Age: 22
Job: USC graduate student studying finance and a personal trainer
Neighborhood: From Oakland
Primary ballot: Democratic
1-10 score for President Biden: 5
Describe the election in one word: Sh*tshow
U.S. Senate seat vote: Barbara Lee
Smith labeled the conflict in Gaza a “genocide,” and said Biden’s support for funding for Israel’s war effort is not supported by his base. “So it’s like you’re actively going against your constituents. You just see all this suffering and death.”
– Angelina Hicks
Name: Arnulfo de Luna
Age: 73
Job: Retired
Neighborhood: From LA
Primary ballot: Democratic
1-10 score for President Biden: 8
Describe the election in one word: Perfect
U.S. Senate seat vote: Adam Schiff
“[Voting] was very organized and very strict, so I’m happy.”
– Angelina Hicks
Name: Cesar Serrano
Age: 19
Job: First year theater and PR student at USC
Primary ballot: Democratic
1-10 score for President Biden: “Not well enough informed to give a rating.”
Describe the election in one word: New
U.S. Senate seat vote: Katie Porter
“The conversation and the perspective on voting has changed a lot in the past few years. I think that primarily comes from what we saw with Donald Trump’s presidency. I mean, I didn’t think he’d be able to run again. And so I think everyone’s coming in with new perspectives on what can still happen. Yeah, so it’s kind of like a reset.”
— Grace Harrington
Name: Nicole Grubbs
Age: 19
Job: Second year legal studies student at USC
Primary ballot: Democratic
1-10 score for President Biden: 4
Describe the election in one word: Tricky
U.S. Senate seat vote: Barbara Lee
“I really like that [Williamson] called [for] a ceasefire. But you can’t blame [Biden] for other things like Roe v. Wade and stuff like that, really, because that’s Supreme Court issues, but there are big issues under his presidency.”
— Grace Harrington
Name: Sara Stienecker
Age: 20
Job: Third year political science student at USC
Primary ballot: Democratic
1-10 score for President Biden: 7 or 8
Describe the election in one word: Unique
U.S. Senate seat vote: Barbara Lee
“I think a lot of things [Biden’s] done for student loans have been really great. I mean, every month, I’m checking the news. And it’s like, oh, he’s absorbing more student loan debt, which I’m always a fan of.”
— Grace Harrington
Name: Nathan Bartley
Age: 30s
Job: Grad student in Computer Science
Neighborhood: Santa Monica
Primary ballot: Democratic
1-10 score for President Biden: 7
Describe the election in one word: Hopeful
U.S. Senate seat vote: Barbara Lee
“Domestically Biden is doing okay like with unions and such, but it’s all overshadowed for me when it comes to his immigration policies. I’m married to an immigrant woman and for her and her family dealing with the immigration system in this country, along with what he is doing with Israel and Palestine, it’s all just frustrating.”
— Nova Blanco-Rico
Name: Sam Tarlov
Age: 21
Job: Works in communications
Primary ballot: Democratic
1-10 score for President Biden: 4
Describe the election in one word: Underrated
U.S. Senate seat vote: Katie Porter
“I think the understandable reasons certain things haven’t been done, like student loan forgiveness and other measures that Republicans have pushed back. But I think his support for Israel has been a major turn-off the past several months, so I did the write-in and voted Uncommitted, to show my lack of support for him.”
— Nova Blanco-Rico
Name: Ryan Boyd
Age: 42
Job: Dornsife professor
Neighborhood: Koreatown
Primary ballot: Democratic
1-10 score for President Biden: 2
Describe the election in one word: Monumental
U.S. Senate seat vote: Katie Porter
“I have a real hard time voting for him, because of the situation in Gaza, so I only left the presidential blank as a protest vote. … Trump is scary, I want to see Biden win, but I want to send them a message that the policy of the administration now is not acceptable to the voter base.”
— Nova Blanco-Rico
Name: Eva Stokes
Age: 20
Job: Student
Primary ballot: Democratic
1-10 score for President Biden: 5.5
Describe the election in one word: Hopeful
— Daphne Yaman
Name: Camila Sales
Age: 19
Job: Student
Primary ballot: Democratic
1-10 score for President Biden: 2
Describe the election in one word: Hopeless
U.S. Senate seat vote: Barbara Lee
— Daphne Yaman
Name: Kristy Plaza
Age: 30
Job: Communications and Media Manager and the Center for the Political Future
Neighborhood: Santa Fe Springs
Primary ballot: Democratic
1-10 score for President Biden: 6
Describe the election in one word: Hopeful
U.S. Senate seat vote: Barbara Lee
— Daphne Yaman
Name: Anthony Gian
Age: 21
Job: Student
Neighborhood: University Park
Primary ballot: Democratic
1-10 score for President Biden: 3
Describe the election in one word: Stuck
U.S. Senate seat vote: Barbara Lee
“Everyone else did not respond to the questions in a way that I really agree with, but [Barbara Lee] was the only one that said yes to a cease-fire during the Senate debates. … I don’t think [Biden] listens to what the people say at all and his team is very performative.”
— Nicole Santos
Name: Berta Gutierrez
Job: Retired
Neighborhood: University Park
Primary ballot: Republican
1-10 score for President Biden: 5
Describe the election in one word: Injusticia (Injustice)
U.S. Senate seat vote: Write-in candidate Frank Ferreira
“I think that to be a president we need a younger person who is more sane of their head… Not someone who can forget things. … If I were a president, I would put stronger laws to punish people who do bad things, so that others are scared of doing it.”
— Nicole Santos
Name: Michelle Li
Age: 22
Job: Student
Neighborhood: Exposition Park
Primary ballot: Democratic
1-10 score for President Biden: 9
Describe the election in one word: Important
“I give Biden a 9 because he is great but also because I am a Democrat and so he is the only viable Democratic candidate.”
— Nicole Santos
Name: Martha Valdez
Job: Retired
Neighborhood: University Park
Primary ballot: Republican
1-10 score for President Biden: 6
Describe the election in one word: Libertad de expresión (Freedom of expression)
U.S. Senate seat vote: Write-in candidate Frank Ferreira
“[Biden] did not fulfill what he said about giving more resources to the Dreamers and did not take out students’ loans debt.”
— Nicole Santos
Name: Tim McCarthy
Age: 51
Job: Unemployed
Neighborhood: Pasadena
Primary ballot: Republican
1-10 score for President Biden: 1
Describe the election in one word: Lesser-of-two-evils
U.S. Senate seat vote: Steve Garvey
“I’m a Dodgers fan. I’m also a Republican, one of the few in this town — don’t judge me for that. … I like him. I’m not a fan of Schiff … I find, often, I’m voting for somebody because I don’t like the other option.”
— Nick Charles Currie
Name: Samara Holloway
Age: 20
Job: Student
Neighborhood: University Park
Primary ballot: Democratic
1-10 score for President Biden: 1
Describe the election in one word: Hopeful
U.S. Senate seat vote: Katie Porter
“I don’t mean to be ageist, but I don’t think he’s young enough to be able to connect with the population. And now that we’re older, we’re a huge part of the voting population, which means our voices should be represented in whoever we elect. And I don’t think that Biden has the capacity to do that, because he is older.”
— Chuck White
Name: Nate Owen
Age: 24
Job: IT support specialist at the USC School of Cinematic Arts
Neighborhood: West Hollywood
Primary ballot: Democratic
1-10 score for President Biden: 0
Describe the election in one word: Depressed
U.S. Senate seat vote: Barbara Lee
“I see the fall of this country more likely than the fall of the two party system.”
— Chuck White
Name: Gwen Bradforth
Age: 21
Job: Student
Neighborhood: University Park
Primary ballot: Democratic
1-10 score for President Biden: 5
Describe the election in one word: Disappointed
U.S. Senate seat vote: Barbara Lee
“We have two horrible options. But unfortunately, the less horrible of the options is still horrible. So in the primary, I actually didn’t vote in the presidential election…in the final election, I’m gonna have to vote Biden because that’s how it is. I’m not gonna feel good about it.”
— Chuck White