Young women in Eugene react to Kamala Harris making history as first female VP-Elect

The 2020 election really was historic in so many ways.

Record voters, and record young voters, turned out this year. And of course, Kamala Harris will be the first-ever female Vice President. We spoke with women in our community about what this milestone means.

100 years after most American women gained the right to vote, Kamala Harris will be the first female Vice President, and young women in Eugene are here for it.

“Over the moon so excited,” said Harper Marquis and Lilly Gavin, two first-time voters. “It’s such an amazing accomplishment and I hope that it sparks so much more change within politics.”

Harris will also be the first Black and the first South-Asian VP.

“Symbolically for women and young women coming from immigrant communities this is huge,” said Michell McKinley, a UO Law Professor. “Representation really matters, possibilities matter.”

“Having that extra step of like inclusivity in our government for the first time, it’s amazing and I’m so excited,” said Kately Fessenden, a Political Science Major at the UO. “And I know like she’s gonna be such a motivating factor for so many women out there.”

Young voters like Fessenden turned out in record numbers this election, many of them for the first time.

“This is really on a new generation and I am so proud of the work that young folks are doing,” Fessenden said.

“I feel like we’re very big advocates for what we all believe in which is very good.”

Many women looking forward to the kind of change they say Harris represents.

“We can take a moment to celebrate where we got to but then we also have to pull our sleeves up and get to work,” McKinley said.

McKinley says a big part of that work is healing divides in our country, and understanding the perspectives of those who voted differently from us.

“We can’t work without them.”

We don’t have complete data for this election yet since some votes are still being counted, but early data suggests 53% of eligible young voters cast ballots in this election, compared to 45% in 2016. We’ll have to see if that trend continues in the next election.