More students at Notre Dame favor former President Donald Trump than Democrat Kamala Harris in November's election.
This represents a marked shift from students' choices at the elite university over the previous two presidential contests, as more went for Democrats, the Daily Mail reported Wednesday.
A poll released by the Irish Rover of 705 likely student voters taken between Sept. 15-18 found that 47.6% favor Trump for president, with 45.9% picking Harris. The poll has a margin of error of 3.8 percentage points at a 95% confidence level. The Irish Rover describes itself as a student publication devoted to preserving the Catholic identity of Notre Dame.
In a 2020 mock election poll by the Notre Dame student governement, Joe Biden was supported by 66% of students and Trump was backed by just 29%. In a similar poll in 2016, Hillary Clinton was favored over Trump by a margin of 59% to 24%.
Notre Dame professor David Campbell told the Irish Rover the results "demonstrate that Notre Dame students are a microcosm of the nation as a whole."
"The student body is closely divided," he added. "As we head into the home stretch of this hotly contested presidential election, I hope that the students of Notre Dame can demonstrate to the country that it is possible to disagree politically but do so agreeably."
A Catholic-identifying male voter told the Irish Rover he was voting for Trump because "the last four years are why my family is on welfare."
Another student who also supports Trump said: "Honestly, the economy really needs to improve from what Biden and Harris are doing because it is becoming very hard to live."