Three Los Angeles high school students – conservative Alexander, progressives Lucia and Joseph — were old enough to understand what was at stake, but too young to vote in this November’s election.

Now they are reckoning with the aftermath of adults’ decision to elect Donald Trump to a second term and the potential impact on their futures. (LAist is identifying these minor students by their first name only to protect their privacy.)

Their reactions ranged from “let’s go!” to let down. Each student is charting a path they hope will help them achieve their own goals and reshape the American political landscape including, in the next election, by voting.

“We have representatives; we have people that look like us; we have people that say that they support us, and that they're going to fight for us,” Lucia says. “And yet, when we put them in office, they don't actually do it.”

Listen • 44:08

Listen • 44:08

Too young to vote, but not to care

In one of the most consequential elections in modern U.S. history, many high schoolers had to leave it to adults to choose the next president. Imperfect Paradise host Antonia Cereijido, LAist K-12 Senior Reporter Mariana Dale, and LAist Studios producer Monica Bushman follow three Los Angeles high school students as they think about civic duty and their role during an election when they’re old enough to understand what’s at stake, but too young to vote.

Lucia

Lucia is a senior at Garfield High School in east L.A. When asked how she felt about not being able to vote this past election, she said: “Ugh, I’m so mad.”

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Julie Leopo

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The day after the November 5 elections, Lucia expresses her dismay at the results.

“I thought that we were ready for a female candidate, a woman of color. But, you know, we weren't. It hurts that the country wasn't ready for that because it makes girls feel that the country isn't ready for them either, you know. But it just further motivates me to try harder, to do better, and you know, hopefully the country will be ready for me when it's my turn.”

Lucia wants to become a lawyer so that she can one day run for Senate, and eventually, the Presidency.

“Put me in coach! I’m ready,” she says about her political aspirations. She spent the months prior to the election canvassing and phone banking with a nonprofit called InnerCity Struggle in Boyle Heights.

Lucia helps to phone bank with non-profit InnerCity Struggle on Oct. 28, 2024, the week before Election Day.

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Julie Leopo

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Lucia wanted Vice President Kamala Harris to win the presidential election, but wishes there was a Democratic candidate who better represents her values. She wanted to ask Harris, “if you're middle class, if you stand by your community, stand by minorities, stand by low-income communities, why are you supporting the police, people that target minorities, that target low income communities. If you really say that that's who you are, then why don't your plans and values align with that?”

Alexander

Alexander is a junior at Santa Monica High School. He points to 2023 as the year his political views became more right-wing.

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Julie Leopo

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Alexander likes talking with friends and teachers about politics and hopes to join a debate club or start a club for conservative students next year, building on momentum from the 2024 presidential race.

Some of the issues that matter most to Alexander are improving the economy and increasing border security, and he is a strong supporter of Donald Trump. Alexander says he became “more and more right wing” fairly recently — starting in 2023 — when he began doing more of his own research online and getting into podcasters like right-wing activist Charlie Kirk, who founded the conservative youth organization Turning Point USA.

“I really like [Charlie Kirk’s] college debates,” Alexander says. “He kind of debates college kids on campuses and they bring up their different opinions and perspectives and Charlie tries to, like, debunk them.”

On Election Day, Alexander wore an outfit to school that he said he felt reflected his conservative political views: a letterman-style jacket, a car racing jersey, an American flag pin, and a small American flag tucked into his pocket.

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Monica Bushman

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Alexander hoped Trump would win the 2024 election in a landslide and stayed up past midnight to watch Kirk livestream the election results: “I was just cheering and everything. I was so happy because Trump was winning and just dominating.”

As for what he hopes Trump’s win will mean for his future and the future of the country, Alexander says, “If we have a strong president such as Trump… he’s going to stand up for our country and not let other countries take advantage of us.”

He adds: “I also feel like Trump has a spirit of patriotism that makes a patriotic person like me, and millions of other patriotic Americans, just feel happier by feeling proud to be American.”

Joseph

Joseph is a senior at Hamilton High School. He started to dive deeper into politics when the pandemic started and schools shut down. “What was all over the newsfeed and all over my screens was the 2020 election,” he said.

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Julie Leopo

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Joseph wakes up at 5:30 a.m. every weekday to commute from Pomona to Hamilton High School in west Los Angeles.

He spotted a man in a red MAGA hat driving a teal SUV the day after the election, while walking to his first class of the day — U.S. Government.

“That's the kind of stuff that happens when Trump wins,” Joseph says. “Conservatism gets more open… We think in Los Angeles, we're kind of safe from that kind of stuff. MAGA hats are kind of a reminder that you're not really.”

Joseph remembers the sense of defeatism and the threats to move to Canada from some voters that followed Trump’s last election in 2016.

“I kind of fell into that a little in the morning [after this election],” Joseph says. “If Trump's won, that's just kind of how it is, but it isn't just how it is.”

Joseph meets with his peers at Students Deserve. The youth-led Los Angeles organization held a general assembly on Nov. 14, 2024.

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Julie Leopo

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Joseph is a leader in the grassroots organizing group Students Deserve and has called on the Los Angeles Unified school board to better support Black students and cut funding for school police. He’s determined to do what he can to push forward change.

Joseph is in the midst of applying for colleges. He says the results of the election might impact what he studies.

“Policy is more immediate than I had thought it was,” Joseph says. “It’s really easy to think that my passion's just in philosophy; politics is just gonna go how it's gonna go. But, today and yesterday kind of reckoned with me. Like, politics doesn't just go how it goes. It goes because of the actions of specific people.”

Listen to the episode

Listen • 44:08

Listen • 44:08

Too young to vote, but not to care

In one of the most consequential elections in modern U.S. history, many high schoolers had to leave it to adults to choose the next president. Imperfect Paradise host Antonia Cereijido, LAist K-12 Senior Reporter Mariana Dale, and LAist Studios producer Monica Bushman follow three Los Angeles high school students as they think about civic duty and their role during an election when they’re old enough to understand what’s at stake, but too young to vote.