It's Rock the Vote time on the quad at St. Petersburg College's Gibbs campus.
Over the sound of student rock bands, some of them talk about voting for the first time. But dig a little deeper, and the conversation is about how they're going to afford groceries. And find a place of their own to live.
Ethan Michael is 19 and is majoring in behavioral studies.
“I live in a trailer with five people and I'm autistic and so really working hard. I've been homeless three times mostly in my life,” he said.
Michael was a cook for a time, but is unemployed now as he hits the books.
“Lately, inflation has been, you know, I have to get a job and help support my mom and my sister and my brother as the oldest son, too. Inflation really affects all of us,” he said.
He says it's a tough choice this year, but he'll vote for Trump.
“I think with Harris is just, just like, no,” he said, laughing. “There's issues about Trump, you know, with the whole last three years he has, but with a bunch of other stuff, with Harris, I think Trump is a little bit better than Harris.”
Democrats have traditionally been able to count on support from young adults, especially college students. But polls show issues like the economy and immigration could be eroding that alliance, especially among young white men.
His friend Alexis Silva, 19, of St. Petersburg is a nursing student. It's her first time voting and said it's hard to keep track of the candidates.
Even though she's living at home, she's helping her parents pay their bills. She works at a veterinary hospital part-time. She has a scholarship, but she has to pay some tuition out of pocket.
“Living with my parents, like, just like a family of five, that's like, everything is like crazy expensive and it's like to the point where we're like, we're almost homeless,” she said. “So we're like, having to struggle, and work our rear ends off like crazy.”
But for her too, homelessness is a specter haunting her entire family.
“We were just like running short on money, like the bills weren't getting paid like the mortgage and stuff and everything, everything was like piling up costwise,” Silva said. “And so it was to the point where we, like, we're almost there.”
“And then on top of that, I'm like, also helping my parents paying the bills and everything and like contributing to like the water bill, utility bill, and groceries. And then, like, I also pay for my own car and gas and everything. So everything's stacking up.”
Across the bay in Tampa, it's Democracy Week at the University of South Florida. There, sophomore Olivia Riegner sidles up to an information table to learn how to vote.
The public health major says abortion, gun laws and relaxing immigration restrictions are her biggest issues. She was leaning toward Harris, but she says she's not hearing enough about her concerns from both candidates.
“Before the debate, I was more excited on one side,” she said. “And then after the debate, I just have to do more research into it to see like the pros and cons of both sides.”
Nearby, Jacque Kurchinski said she just turned 18, so it's her first time voting.
Her top concern is earning enough to get by on her own.
“I'm staying at my mom's house but she does not want me there and I should leave soon,” she explained. “But I can't find an apartment because I'm like, too young and my job doesn't have enough money for me to qualify for an apartment.”
And for Jacque, even the price of groceries is out of reach. She has to rack up debt on her credit card — just to eat.
“Well, rent is insanely expensive. It's like my entire paycheck to cover my month of rent. So I can't afford food. So I get most of my food from the school pantry.”
She does plan to vote, and says because she's gay, she's leaning toward Kamala Harris.
“I think this election is going to change, well, more than just the next four years,” she said.
St. Petersburg College political science professor Tara Newsom says the recent hurricanes have made things worse ... but students have been dealing with financial hardship for a long time.
“Housing every semester is an issue. Every semester, we face students that say, hey, listen, can I turn in my assignment a little bit late? Not because they're bad students, but because they're working 60 hours a week and they're staying with people,” she said. “So these are people who are not technically homeless but they're certainly displaced. And this has been a problem for a long time as affordability for housing rises and we're going to see that become an even greater problem because of the rising home insurance costs.”
And after the recent hurricanes damaged many homes, she said this is probably going to get worse.
Newsom says many of her students are using Florida's public college system as a lifeline to get out of poverty.
“They've got one foot in a housing displacement, one foot in a place where they can't necessarily find their next meal readily,” she said. “And they're coming to school, not just to change their stars and transform their lives, but having access to food pantries, having access to dignity and respect that their faculty and their colleges offer to them.”
Kurchinski says if she wants to transform her life by going to school full-time, she'll have to get two part-time jobs. And what's her plan?
“Well, I was planning on living in my car, honestly,” she said.
When asked how big her car is, she replied, “Oh, well, it's not big enough to live in.”
For students like Jacque who are struggling to get by, just hearing a candidate with a plan to help students like them —would make all the difference.
