A guide to the primaries: What are the views of the current candidates?

By Caitlyn Huebner
April 27, 2016

The Pennsylvania primaries will be held Tuesday, April 26. There are three Republican and two Democratic candidates left. On the Republican side, John Kasich, Ted Cruz and Donald Trump while on the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders.

John Kasich

Graphic by Caitlyn Huebner.
Graphic by Caitlyn Huebner.

Kasich, the current governor of Ohio, is running as a Republican is the 2016 election. Kasich is the only Republican who believes that undocumented immigrants should be given the right to become legal residents of the United States. Many other opinions on immigration are unclear when it comes to Kasich. However, Kasich makes a clear statement that he is opposed to Syrian refugees. In a statement, he mentions nothing should be done with Syrian refugees until it can be determined who exactly they are.

On topics such as abortion, gun control, climate change and gay marriage Kasich has not taken a firm stance either way. Nonetheless, Kasich has taken a firm stance on topics of Planned Parenthood funding, Obamacare, paid medical leave and an increase in federal tax. He is a strong opponent to all of these.

Ted Cruz

Cruz is the current senator from Texas who is running as a Republican. Cruz is fairly opposed to many of the popular issues for this Presidential campaign. He is against abortion, gun control, global warming, Obamacare, Syrian refugees and Planned Parenthood funding.

Cruz is in favor of building some sort of barrier between the United States and Mexico.  Cruz has a few beliefs particularly about the US military. He believes that there should be ground troops sent to fight ISIS. Cruz is in favor of increasing the military budget, as well as using more torturous military techniques.

Donald Trump

Trump is running as a Republican. Trump is considered one of the most well-known American businessmen. Trump has been one candidate whose views have changed the most. He now believes that there should not be funding towards Planned Parenthood, has changed his view on whether healthcare should be entitled to all Americans and now does not believe Syrian refugees should be admitted to the United States.

One of Trump’s most adamant stands is on immigration. He may be most well-known for his statement that there needs to be a southern-border wall and that Mexico must pay for it. He also believes there should be stricter immigration laws, there should be a mandatory check on all immigration status of employees and that undocumented immigrants should not be allowed to become citizens.

Hillary Clinton

Clinton is the former First Lady and Secretary of State. Clinton is running as a Democrat in the 2016 election. Clinton is a candidate whose views align in some instances as Democrat and in others Republican. She is in favor of the death penalty, paid medical leave, a raise in the minimum wage, an increase in federal tax, previously convicted felons having the right to vote and that China is both a military and economic threat.

She is very for many portions of the health debate. She believes that abortion should be legal, Obamacare is good, all Americans should be entitled to health care, funding should be given to Planned Parenthood and even believes in physicians assisted suicide. In a statement, she said she sees physicians assisted suicide as beneficial. There remain very few points Clinton is opposed to.

Bernie Sanders

Senator of Vermont, Sanders is running as Democrat in the 2016 election. Sanders is very much in favor of individual rights. He is in favor of paid medical leave, a raise in minimum wage and believes past felons have a right to vote. Sanders is in favor of gay marriage, abortion, Obamacare, physician-assisted suicide, funding towards Planned Parenthood and everyone having a right to health care.

Although Sanders is largely in favor of many views, he is opposed to others. For example, he is against increased military budget, believes that the US should remove the embargo against Cuba, believes there should not be stricter immigration laws and that there should not be US troops sent to fight ISIS.

There are also two other Presidential candidates, Jill Stein and Gary Johnson. These two candidates, however, are involved in separate primaries. Stein is a member of the Green Party and Johnson is a Libertarian.

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Caitlyn Huebner

Part-time adventure seeker and full-time creative soul. I have been fortunate enough to travel to distant worlds through my imagination and bring them to life through writing. Web editor for Loquitur and Editor in Chief of The Cue

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