This article was written by Mirror Indy reporters Tyler Fenwick, Mary Claire Molloy, Darian Benson, Enrique Saenz and Claire Rafford.
Lakyah Berry didn’t feel instant relief when she heard President Joe Biden dropped his reelection campaign.
Rather, the 19-year-old sophomore at IU Indianapolis started thinking about Project 2025, the conservative blueprint designed for the next Republican president backed by the Heritage Foundation.
Once she started thinking about Vice President Kamala Harris as the presumptive nominee for Democrats, though, Berry felt a bit more hopeful.
She sees Harris as a better option than Biden and former president and Republican nominee Donald Trump — whose combined age is 159 years old.
The 59-year-old vice president is more “tapped in,” Berry said.
Aside from being younger, Harris could become the first Black woman and person of South Asian descent to lead the ticket for a major political party.
“It’s never happened before, so it’s exciting,” Berry said. “But I also don’t want to get too caught up in just the optics of it.”
Around Indianapolis, residents are resizing the November election, which likely will pit the former prosecutor from California against Trump, who has been found guilty of falsifying business records and faces other indictments.
The November ballot isn’t solidified yet, though delegates from the Democratic Party can make Harris’ nomination official during a virtual roll call in early August.
And according to the Associated Press, Harris has enough backing from delegates to secure the nomination.
‘This is going to be our future’
For 23-year-old DeTonyeá Dickson, the vice president has at least one thing going for her: the memes.
Laughing, dancing, talking about falling out of a coconut tree to the backtrack of Charli XCX’s hit summer album, “brat” — that’ll help with Gen Z voters.
But winning support from younger voters won’t be as easy as going viral. Dickson said her generation is outspoken about the war in Gaza, for example, and they’re waiting to see how Harris approaches the conflict.
“Many of us are having discussions with our friends since the goal posts shifted,” Dickson said. “This is going to be our future.”
[Indiana politicos, delegates react to the Biden withdrawal]
In Haughville, 38-year-old Ashley Donald questioned how quickly that future will arrive. The child care worker said she’ll vote for Harris, but she thinks Republicans will find a way to win.
“I don’t think they’ll allow her to be president,” Donald said.
Two of Donald’s coworkers, 28-year-old Breanna Smith and 35-year-old Erica Thomas, said they would rather see Michelle Obama enter the race — although the former first lady previously struck down the idea of running.
Either way, all three said the most important thing is to back a candidate who can defeat Trump.
‘He’ll say crazy stuff about Kamala’
Thomas Taylor isn’t worried about Harris beating Trump.
The 68-year-old Trump supporter thinks the former president will defeat Harris in November — just like he’s confident Trump would have beaten Biden.
The key, Taylor said, is for Trump to not talk too much about Harris during the campaign.
Then again, he knows that’s not likely.
“He’ll say crazy stuff about Kamala,” Taylor said from the bar at Hillside Tavern on East 10th Street.
Logan Andrews also is confident in Trump’s chances against Harris in November.
The 28-year-old from Lawrence was disappointed when he heard Biden dropped out — but not because he was planning to vote for Biden.
“He was a guaranteed loss,” Andrews said as he sported his Trump 2024 socks and waited for an appointment at Ivy Tech Community College.
As for Harris, Andrews doesn’t expect her to be the nominee, much less to win — in part because he doesn’t think Harris has been as visible as other vice presidents.
“They didn’t really give her the spotlight to get her image across,” he said.
For some Democrats, that’s a fair analysis as they try to get familiar with their party’s likely nominee.
‘I don’t know how extreme her nature is’
Deneise Mansfield voted for Joe Biden in 2020 but worries Harris could be too liberal.
Mansfield, 64, regularly attends church. She’s concerned about the Biden-Harris administration’s stance on transgender issues, including gender-affirming surgeries.
“I usually vote Democrat,” she said. “I don’t know if I would vote for her because I don’t know how extreme her nature is.”
For some, the news of Biden dropping out and Harris stepping in is still spreading.
Lisa Williams was standing outside of the Indianapolis Public Library’s Warren branch when she learned of Biden’s decision to no longer run for reelection.
“I didn’t know that yet, but he did good for us,” said Williams, 57. “I think he did a good job. He’s just getting old. It happens.”
The far eastsider said she thinks Harris would be a good replacement.
“It would keep the Republicans from getting in,” she said.
Tia Harrington was relieved to hear the news of Harris replacing Biden as she shopped at the Kroger on East 16th Street. She thought Biden was too old to be president anyway.
Harrington, 31, knows race and gender will be a big deal in this election, and she said she feared that Trump and his supporters will use racist and sexist attacks over the coming months.
But she doesn’t want every conversation to be about identity alone.
“She’s more than just Black,” Harrington said before continuing with her cart through the dairy aisle.
Mirror Indy reporter Tyler Fenwick covers housing and labor. Contact him at 317-766-1406 or tyler.fenwick@mirrorindy.org. Follow him on X @ty_fenwick.
Mirror Indy reporter Mary Claire Molloy covers health. Reach her at 317-721-7648 or email maryclaire.molloy@mirrorindy.org. Follow her on X @mcmolloy7.
Claire Rafford covers higher education for Mirror Indy in partnership with Open Campus. Contact Claire at claire.rafford@mirrorindy.org or on social media @clairerafford.
Mirror Indy reporter Enrique Saenz covers west Indianapolis. Contact him at 317-983-4203 or enrique.saenz@mirrorindy.org. Follow him on X @heyEnriqueSaenz.
Mirror Indy reporter Darian Benson covers east Indianapolis. Contact her at 317-397-7262 or darian.benson@mirrorindy.org. Follow her on X @HelloImDarian.
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