In this battleground state, Gabrielle Seunagal wants a Trump win

By Rebecca dePencier

Nov. 3, 2020

“My shirt … was similar to the Thin Blue Line, but each of the different colors represents different types of first responders, such as police, firefighters, etc.,” says Gabrielle Seunagal in an email. Photo taken via Skype by Rebecca dePencier. 

On Oct. 16, Gabrielle Seunagal got to the Republican rally in Macon, Ga. seven hours early. She knew it was going to be busy and she didn’t want to miss a thing. 

Seunagal is a freelance writer and SEO copywriter. She grew up in Southfield, Mich. and has been living in Georgia for the better part of four years, moving there shortly after she graduated from high school in 2016.  

“I was not raised Republican at all,” said Seunagal. She grew up in a family of Democrats, but by high school she knew her ideologies and worldviews were right of centre on the political spectrum. 

Georgia has become one of the biggest battleground states in the 2020 election. The state has 16 electoral votes and for the first time in over 20 years, there is the potential for many of them to go Democrat. Trump and Biden have been neck and neck in the polls leading up to election day. 

The main issues for voters include the economy and the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, but even just the ability to vote is on everyone’s minds as the state is known for voter suppression. 

“Seeing the way that the virus has been responded to has just really amplified for me the importance of the policy issue, versus the identity politics angle of who’s more likely to be Republican [or] a Democrat,” said Seunagal. 

Seunagal has been interested in policy since high school, when she supported U.S. Sen. Rand Paul,  a candidate for the Republican nomination in 2016.  

“I really liked his views on lower taxes, and just really empowering people to make their own decisions, free of government intervention,” she said. 

When U.S. President Donald Trump was selected, she started listening to him and found that she “really did agree with him more often than not.” 

Gabrielle Seunagal holds up Trump memorabilia at the rally in Macon. Photo courtesy of Gabrielle Seunagal.

Seeing the president speak in Macon was not what cinched her vote though. She had already cast her vote for Donald Trump, Mike Pence, and “pretty much anyone with an R next to their name” four days earlier. 

“I really do think an economic re-opening is the best call,” she said. “When it comes to the government telling people, ‘You can’t run your business, you have to be shut down,’ I just so vehemently disagree with that.”  

Amelia Davis, a Georgia resident who voted for Joe Biden, agrees that the economy must reopen but unlike Seunagal, she wants masks mandated.  

“I think that we should re-open our economy and our businesses, because we need to thrive, we need to live,” said Davis. “If I need to go shopping at the post office, I want to rely on the fact that it’s open for business and that when I go in, masks are mandated, there’s hand sanitizer available for my use.” 

Seunagal wears Thin Blue Line apparel and a Republican pin. Photo courtesy of Gabrielle Seunagal. 

Seunagal said not mandating masks or enforcing closures is why she’s Team Trump. She said she feels Georgia businesses have been hurt by the lockdowns, and that the choice to re-open should be in the hands of the business owners, not the government.  

“I definitely understand the impulse to want to stop the spread of the virus. But at the same time, I don’t believe that a one–size–fits–all lockdown is the answer,” she said.   

On the morning of election day, Seunagal is still sure the state will yield a Republican win. In an email, she says “I definitely feel positive. Not at all nervous, but I’m just truly convinced that Trump is going to win this thing.” 

There was concern in the state Tuesday morning when voting machines went down across Spalding County. Many were quick to label it voter suppression. But at 9:30 am, a representative from the Sheriff’s Office said they were running again. 

Seunagal said in the email that she’d seen news about the situation on Facebook but that she doesn’t believe it constitutes voter suppression. “I still believe that early voting weeks ahead of this election is a testament that voter suppression is not an issue.” 

For the remainder of the day, she is following along with news of the election and is “looking forward to the Trump 2020 win.”