Republican Candidates

Ted Cruz

Ted Cruz is a Senator and former Prosecutor from Texas. He is the son of a Cuban immigrant. Senator Cruz attended Princeton University, winning national debate championships for Princeton two years in a row. He earned his law degree from Harvard University.

The Senator from Texas wants to completely repeal Obamacare, filibustering the original legislation for just over twenty-one hours. Senator Cruz seeks to expand private educational options in order to decrease college tuition but seeks to limit the role of government in secondary education. As Ted Cruz is a devout Christian, he opposes abortion and seeks to restrict funding for abortion providers like Planned Parenthood. Ted Cruz is pro-gun, supporting the right to bear arms as established in the Constitution.

As President, Senator Cruz would seek to abolish the Internal Revenue Service and replace the current income tax with a flat tax of ten percent. He predicts that this move would increase after-tax income and bolster the economy. Ted Cruz is in favor of building a wall along the U.S.-Mexican border to prevent illegal immigration. He wants to triple border security, halt President Obama’s immigration programs, and bolster the legal immigration system to discourage illegal immigration. Ted Cruz, currently in second place, seeks to establish himself as the leading GOP alternative to Donald Trump. He continues to draw support from evangelical and conservative voters.

Donald Trump

Donald Trump is a successful businessman and TV personality from New York City. The success of Mr. Trump’s company, Trump Enterprises, has given Mr. Trump name recognition and a reputation as a talented businessman.

Trump seeks to end the Affordable Care Act and replace it. He disapproves of current federal student loan management, but has not yet put forth an official plan to reform loan practices. Though Mr. Trump is Pro-Life, he supports Planned Parenthood, a position which has lost him some support from the Pro-Life movement. Trump is Pro-Gun, supporting a constitutional right to bear arms. He believes that more law-abiding citizens should obtain concealed-carry permits in order to better protect the community. Mr. Trump seeks fair tax plan and plans to cut unnecessary government spending.

Trump wants to better compete with foreign countries such as China and Mexico. He wants to bring major corporations and jobs back to the United States from abroad. Many voters think he can strengthen the U.S. Economy using his knowledge from the business world. Like Ted Cruz, Donald Trump is in favor of building a wall on the Mexican border in order to prevent illegal immigration.

Donald Trump has been the Republican Frontrunner for many months now and continues to build momentum.

John Kasich

John Kasich is the current Governor of Ohio, elected in 2010 and reelected in 2014. He previously represented Ohio in the United States House of Representatives for eighteen years. Kasich was born to a middle class family in Pennsylvania and attended Ohio State University, where he received a degree in political science.

John Kasich does not support the deportation of illegal immigrants, as some of his counterparts do. He favors the defunding of Planned Parenthood and is pro-life. He favors lower taxes, which he believes will stimulate the economy and help small businesses grow. Kasich does not support Obamacare and wants to repeal it. However, he supports Medicaid due to the successes that he had with it in his home state of Ohio. Unlike many of his Republican colleagues, Kasich does believe that humans are causing global warming and supports environmental preservation efforts.

On foreign policy, Kasich favors a stronger relationship with the United States’ allies, and wants to work together with them militarily to stabilize the situation in Syria and in the Middle East as a whole. Like many of the Republican candidates, Kasich favors a more aggressive policy towards terrorism, particularly ISIS.

Kasich has consistently ranked lower in the polls among the other Republican candidates. However, he won the Ohio Republican Primary by a fairly large margin.

Democratic Candidates

Hillary Clinton

Former Secretary of State, Senator, and First Lady Hillary Clinton seeks to become the first female President of the United States. Secretary Clinton wants to improve the existing healthcare system, opposing single-payer health insurance proposed by her primary opponent. Hillary wants to make college more affordable, releasing plans to spend approximately $350 billion over 10 years to reduce the price of a degree at public colleges, improve student loans, and provide grants to colleges that improve their graduation rates. Hillary supports the pro-choice movement. Mrs. Clinton favors increased gun regulation. She wants to repeal gun manufacturer immunity, legislation which shields gun manufacturers from lawsuits.

Regarding the economy, Hillary would like to reinstate some taxes cut during the previous two presidents. Hillary supports a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants. She finds mass deportation impractical, but supports the removal of immigrants convicted of crimes. As of March 20, Hillary leads the Democratic Primary.

Bernie Sanders

Known for his slogan ‘Feel the Bern’, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders at 74 is the oldest candidate in the 2016 Presidential Race.

Bernie believes that healthcare should be guaranteed to every citizen, seeking to adopt a single-payer healthcare system. He plans to create legislation to curb drug costs and tackle fraud in the healthcare industry. Bernie seeks to make public colleges and universities tuition-free and to drastically reduce the interest rates on current student debt.

Bernie is a Pro-Choice candidate. He supports equal pay for women and better protections against domestic and sexual violence. On the issue of gun control, Bernie feels that most gun restrictions should be established by the states. He does, however, support federally mandated background checks to prevent firearms from finding their way to criminals and the mentally ill. He also supports a federal ban on assault weapons. Bernie seeks to fight the increasing wealth inequality, raise minimum wage to $15 dollars an hour, raise taxes on capital gains and the wealthiest one percent of Americans.

He would use increased tax revenues to lower taxes for the middle and lower classes. He would like to create an immigration system that would give immigrants and Americans the same opportunities. He supports a pathway for illegal immigrants to legal status, seeking also to secure the border with Mexico and reform the Visa system. Senator Sanders is second in the Democratic primary.