The economy was the deciding factor in the presidential election for many Alamance County voters. But despite their support for Republican candidate Mitt Romney, President Barack Obama has been re-elected. He lost North Carolina, but did not lose the election.

Most voters willing to share their opinions said jobs and the economy were vote-deciding issues for them, and they supported Mitt Romney for president and Pat McCrory (R) for North Carolina governor.

Don Jefferson, a 79-year-old Elon resident, said honesty was the most important issue for him in this election. He would not say whether he voted for Obama, but he said he thought Romney was a liar.

“He has no scruples, among other things that you can’t say in public,” Jefferson said. “Listen to the commercials. When he comes up there and he says, ‘The auto industry, you never should have done that, I wouldn’t have done that,’ and then he turns around and says, ‘Well that was my idea.’”

All surveyed voters said they were more interested in the national election than local and state races. One Elon University student, junior Dave Stone, said he didn’t recognize any of the local names on the ballot and thought voting for the “head honcho” was most important.

“I actually just picked who I thought had the funniest or best name, locally,” he said.

Beth Nall, a retired Alamance County teacher, said she finds the national election to be of greater importance, too. She said she really wanted to see some change from the past four years and she hoped Romney would be able to offer that. [box]

  • An Elon University Poll conducted Aug. 25-30 showed 48 percent of N.C. likely voters identified the economy or jobs as the most important issue in deciding on a presidential candidate.
  • According to Elon Poll results released Oct. 29, 51 percent said Romney would better handle the economy, compared to the 42 percent of likely voters who said Obama would better handle the economy
[/box] Nall advocated for a change and said a new president may have been invigorating for the nation, especially the younger generations.

Nevertheless, she acknowledged despite who won, it’s important just for people to use their voices in the electoral process.

“I just think it’s important that we all have our say and we all have our vote and this is your one and only chance, so I think if you don’t try to fix the problems, or at least express your opinion through a vote, you really have not done your duty,” she said. “And it is a privilege.”