Following the journey of 6 first-time voters
One will be voting for the first time in November, though he’s been eligible for three decades. Another registered to vote after recently becoming a U.S. citizen. And four others recently became old enough to vote in a presidential election for the first time. The Beacon Journal will follow these six first-time voters with ties to Summit County throughout the election cycle to chronicle their experience and see if their views change. Here’s more about them.
Max Graham
Age: 18
Hometown: Seville
Political affiliation/philosophy: Republican/conservative
Education/career: Pursuing a degree in political science from the University of Akron, where he began taking classes during high school, and plans to attend law school.
Favorite president (alive or dead): Ronald Reagan
Dylan Leipold
Age: 21
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Hometown: Cuyahoga Falls; currently living in the Phi Delta Theta fraternity house on the University of Akron campus.
Political affiliation/philosophy: Conservative-leaning
Education/career: Pursuing a bachelor’s in business administration from UA.
Favorite president (alive or dead): Teddy Roosevelt
Sydney Montique
Age: 20
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Hometown: East Cleveland
Political affiliation/philosophy: Democrat
Education/career: Pursuing a bachelor’s degree in business finance at UA.
Favorite president (alive or dead): Barack Obama
Samantha Byake Mutebi
Age: 27
Hometown: Originally from Congo, Africa; now lives in Akron.
Political affiliation/philosophy: Undecided
Education: Bachelor’s degree in psychology from Makerere University in Uganda. Works as an interpreter for Akron Public Schools.
Favorite president (alive or dead): Doesn’t have one.
Angel Sobolewski
Age: 21
Hometown: Born in the Philippines; now lives in Copley.
Political affiliation/philosophy: Republican
Education: Pursuing a political science degree at Stark State College, with hopes to transfer to UA in the next year.
Favorite president (alive or dead): Donald Trump
Olori Manns
Age: 49
Hometown: Grew up in New York City; moved to Akron 31⁄2 years ago.
Political affiliation/philosophy: Unsure, but thinks he’s closer to being a Democrat.
Education/career: Graduated from Louis Brandeis High School in New York City. Now has a job registering people to vote with Freedom BLOC.
Favorite president (alive or dead): Ronald Reagan
known as Twitter, because of its realtime updates, she said. When she worked for the county GOP, she learned a lot about local candidates and issues.
“I care about the presidential election, but I now care more about the local races than before,” Sobolewski said.
Two issues she cares about deeply are border control and education. For her, immigration is personal because she and her mother were legal immigrants from the Philippines. She knows how hard the paperwork was for them and believes things should be fair for everyone coming into the United States.
Sobolewski, who lives in Copley, also has siblings in school now and is concerned about the quality of education they receive.
To further her participation in politics, she attends school board and local government meetings and meets local officials.
“I want to do something where it can have the most effect,” Sobolewski said. “It starts where you live. If I have an issue, I go to town hall or pop into board meetings.”
Sobolewski’s all-time favorite president is Trump. She said most of his policies align with her beliefs.
“The issues that matter right now are the issues that he is really good at doing something about,” she said.
She plans to do as much as she can to advocate for Trump and Vance, his pick for vice president, leading up to the election.
“I wish I could do more, but I just want us to win,” she said.
“I love politics. It’s exciting to play a small part this time.” First-time voter Max Graham
UA student doesn’t understand peers who don’t want to vote
Dylan Leipold is excited to be able to vote in the presidential election for the first time − and he doesn’t understand his peers who aren’t.
“It doesn’t make a lot of sense to me,” said Leipold, 21, a University of Akron student majoring in business administration.
Leipold considered pursuing a political career – even working on two state legislative campaigns – but decided it wasn’t the path for him. He has remained tuned in to politics, though, and gets his news from X and the Wall Street Journal.
Leipold, who is from Cuyahoga Falls, grew up in a family with conservative views, which he said has shaped his political philosophy. He said he has friends he agrees and disagrees with on political issues.
The issues that matter most to him are the economy, America’s reputation on the world stage and the government’s social policy.
Besides the presidential race, Leipold cares about Ohio’s races for Congress and the state Legislature.
“I haven’t spent as much time looking into those,” he said. “I will before I vote.”
Leipold said he was initially interested in RFK for president before he decided he was “too far out there.” He said the presidential campaign has been chaotic.
“I don’t know quite what to make of it,” he said.
At this point, Leipold said he’s leaning toward voting for Trump, though he’s interested to see if Harris is the official Democratic nominee and who is tapped to be her running mate.
If Harris had someone more moderate on her slate, like Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Leipold said that would be interesting. Manchin is a Democratturned-independent who considered running for president but recently said he won’t.
“If he was nominated, I would look at the ticket,” Leipold said.
New citizen is excited to vote for the first time
For 27-year-old Samantha Byake Mutebi, voting is something she takes personally.
“Back in my country, there were a lot of things I didn’t like, but I couldn’t speak up,” she said. “America is now my home, and I’m grateful I can now make my home better.”
Mutebi is a refugee from Uganda who was born in Congo. She became a naturalized U.S. citizen in May.
Mutebi said her country was at war since she was born, and she experienced things she shouldn’t have at such a young age.
When she was 11, she walked by foot to Uganda seeking help. During her time in Uganda, she received a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Makerere University.
Mutebi immigrated to the United
States in 2019 and landed in Akron. Since then, she has done advocacy work in the city and is an interpreter for Akron Public Schools. She speaks seven languages and has an infant son.
“I want to make a change,” Mutebi said. “Some people think that their one vote doesn’t matter, but that one vote can make a difference.”
After she got naturalized, Mutebi quickly registered and plans to vote early in the November election. She is among an estimated 3.5 million adults of voting age who have become citizens since the 2020 election, according to data from the U.S. Immigration Policy Center at the University of California San Diego.
Mutebi said she gets most of her political news from the Akron Beacon Journal. She tries to stay informed about both local and national current events and issues.
Aside from the presidential election, she is interested in Ohio’s U.S. Senate race.
Two main issues that are important to her are immigration policies involving refugees and gun violence. She isn’t yet sure of her political affiliation, though she expects to figure that out after the second presidential debate in September.
She thought the first presidential debate between Trump and Biden was like watching a comedy show.
“What is this − these two might be the next president?” asked Mutebi.
After Biden’s exit from the race and Harris’ presumed entrance, Mutebi said she still hasn’t decided who will get her vote.
Akron man voting for first time after three decades being eligible
At 49, Olori Manns isn’t the typical first-time voter.
The Akron man said he thought his vote didn’t matter.
Recently, though, he’s had a job registering voters − and he’s now excited to vote.
“It’s time for purpose,” Manns said. “I’m trying to believe in something and be part of something.”
Manns, a lifelong musician with two children, grew up in New York City and then moved to Miami. He came to Akron 31⁄2 years ago to be closer to his father, Baba David Coleman, a well-known always
African drummer. Coleman died of cancer in February 2021.
Manns registered to vote last year but didn’t follow through. He recently got a job registering voters for a nonprofit based in Cleveland and then, about a month ago, for Freedom BLOC, a civic group whose office is near his home.
“It doesn’t feel like a job,” said Manns, whose goal is to register 15 voters a day. “I’m digging it.”
Manns mainly gets his news from the apps Haystack and News Break. He admits he has a lot to learn about the issues and races in November and the voting process.
“Do you go into a booth? What do you push?” Manns asked, with a reporter explaining he’ll fill in bubbles on his ballot. “I’d like to go through the process.”
Manns said two of the main issues he cares about are the rapid growth of homelessness and the need for better health care. He’s not sure of his political affiliation, though he identifies more with Democrats.
Manns hasn’t made up his mind about which presidential candidate he’ll support, but he’s leaning toward Harris if she is the Democratic nominee. He’s excited by the prospect of the country’s first female president.
“I’m looking forward to seeing how the whole thing plays out,” he said.