“I’d rather ‘waste’ my vote than vote for somebody who doesn’t support my ideals.”

Riley Koeppel is a junior at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee pursuing a major in history and a minor in communication. After they graduate in 2026, they hope to find a job in museum archiving or curation. With the 2024 election less than two weeks away, Koeppel said they intend to vote for Cornel West over the mainstream Republican and Democratic parties.

William Stauber Soik: When you decide to vote for a third party candidate like Cornel West, how important is Wisconsin being a “swing state” in making that decision?

Riley Koeppel: It’s not really important at all. I feel like at this point it’s already been decided with the way Harris is going. She’s pulling in the same direction that Hillary Clinton was [in 2016], in that a lot of her policies used to be a lot more liberal and left-leaning. But she’s going further and further right in the hopes of getting more of the Republican voter base. She knows she’s lost a lot of the vote because she won’t stand down on her stance on Palestine.

Soik: Would you say you are dissatisfied with this election cycle then?

Koeppel: Dissatisfied would be putting it lightly. I’m dissatisfied with the selection of options and the feeling that consecutive years of choosing the lesser evil has led to further conservatism within the two options.

Soik: Did you start feeling that way this election cycle?

Koeppel: I’ve been dissatisfied with it for a long period of time. Basically, just kind of seeing for the past 12 years, all of the Democratic candidates have been appointed by the Democratic Party, not actually by the people themselves. It feels like they’re just picking things for us at this point.

Soik: Do you think this lesser of two evils model is functional for American democracy?

Koeppel: I feel like it’s functional if you want to maintain the status quo, but the status quo isn’t really helping anybody right now. I feel like we need to have some kind of change or break-up. We need to find a way out of the cycle.

Soik: What are your top three issues on why the two mainstream parties are not for you?

Koeppel: Immigration, Palestine and just conservatism, I guess. For the Democratic Party, it’s the lack of willingness to change and actually stand up for the values that they tout. For Republicans, it’s just the further hatred and their pushing of a hateful narrative.

Soik: Where do you see conservatism in the Democratic Party?

Koeppel: It feels like a lot of the Democratic party will say things like ‘we’re going to codify Roe v. Wade, we’re going to support trans rights, we’re going to push forward more rights for women.’ It’s a lot of talk. They don’t follow through or work on anything. It feels like they’re just sacrificing us and using us as a way to get votes.

Soik: Do you ever see yourself voting for a mainstream party in the future?

Koeppel: I’m not even sure. Given the current trajectory, we’ve been voting for the lesser evil every single year. It feels like they’re either doing nothing or they’re just pushing a further right-wing narrative. Democrats previously were anti-fossil fuels and for a lot more green energy. They had the Green New Deal that was being put through. If we look at Kamala Harris’ stance now, she is pro-fracking and she is pro-corporation. It’s just a further degradation of what their stance was.

Soik: What do you say to the people who may tell you that you are wasting your vote?

Koeppel: Even if I’m wasting it, I’d rather ‘waste’ my vote than vote for somebody who doesn’t support my ideals. I’d rather vote for somebody who isn’t committing genocide in Gaza. I’d rather vote for somebody who is actually going to put forward a better future rather than maintaining the status quo.

Soik: Would you call your vote for Cornel West a protest vote?

Koeppel: Yeah, definitely. It’s a protest against the status quo.