Opinion: I take issue with Harris. I voted for her anyway.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Kamala Harris was early.
On Saturday, the vice president took the stage slightly before 5 p.m. to make one last appeal to North Carolina voters ahead of Election Day. Surrounding me was a sea of signs passed out to supporters. Some were specific – “Latinos for Harris” and “Republicans for Harris” were two that stuck out to me – while others simply read “USA” and “freedom.”
“I have lived the promise of America, and today I see the promise of America in everybody who is here,” Harris told the crowd at PNC Music Pavillion.
To me, Harris represents a new way forward. Her policy positions are ambitious; her political values are aligned with my own. I’m not the only one who feels this way – millions of voters are looking to turn the page on former President Donald Trump. Seeing Harris speak affirmed my decision to cast my ballot for her.
I now live in a safe blue state where I could have easily forgone the choice altogether, but I chose to cast my ballot for Harris anyway.
The messaging from Trump, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio and the Republican Party is that their vision for America requires me to conform to their version of what I should be. I’ve repeatedly thought about Vance calling women like me “childless cat ladies.” My skin crawls when Trump, an adjudicated rapist, says he wants to “protect women.”
The reality is that only one party in this race sees me as a full human.
Opinion:You’re not imagining it. Republicans have been weird about women for years.
My politics are deeply influenced by my identities as a woman, a queer person, the granddaughter of immigrants and a member of Gen Z. I cannot separate these things from my political voice, and I vote accordingly.
Trump has spent the last leg of this election attacking trans people directly, acting as if they are the biggest threat to this country. They are not. Trans people will continue to exist even if Trump is elected.
To guarantee the rights my peers deserve, Harris is the only option.
The biggest reason I’m supporting Harris is because I believe in the right to an abortion. I was devastated when Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022. I believe in the fundamental right to make decisions about my own body. I believe in the right to choose what to do if you happen to become pregnant.
I am privileged; I live in a blue state where the right to an abortion is still protected.
One in three women of reproductive age, including those in my home state of North Carolina, live under abortion bans implemented after the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision.
That’s not the only place that Harris exceeds expectations.
She has a proven record on gun violence prevention, fighting climate change and LGBTQ+ rights. She supports the legalization of recreational marijuana.
All of those things are reasons that she earned my vote.
Social issues aren’t the only reason I voted for Harris. I also believe in her economic policy.
Harris believes in creating an economy where everyone can thrive. She wants to increase housing supply and help first-time homebuyers with their down payments. She wants to end corporate price gouging, lower the cost of prescription drugs and invest in small businesses. I support all of these things because I believe in an equitable America.
Opinion:Anti-abortion laws have been devastating for women. We must vote.
Harris has been part of President Joe Biden’s administration for the past four years, and the administration has had to bounce back from the COVID-19 pandemic. Thanks to Biden, the economy is doing considerably well:
We must continue to strengthen the economy through Democratic policies.
On the other hand, Trump wants to impose tariffs that could cost middle-class Americans more than $2,600 a year. If you care about good economic policy that will help reshape our country in the post-COVID era, Harris is the only choice.
Harris, a former prosecutor and one of the most qualified presidential candidates of my lifetime, cares about preserving democracy in the United States.
Trump only cares about himself.
The former president has shown us repeatedly that he cannot be trusted to hold the highest office in the land. He led a deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol. He has been convicted of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, with more legal cases pending against him. He has grown increasingly unhinged, doing things like emulating oral sex on a microphone stand and dancing way too long to music at rallies.
If you believe Trump is a defender of democracy despite all of this, you are lying to yourself.
I have my issues with Harris. To be honest, I wish she were as “dangerously liberal” as the right makes her out to be.
Like many other progressives, I am appalled at the ongoing conflict in Gaza that has killed at least 43,000 Palestinians and injured more than 101,000. I have been disappointed by the Democrats’ response to the war and wish they would put more pressure on Israel to agree to a cease-fire.
This tension was present at the Charlotte rally, where protesters unveiled a pro-Palestine banner and were promptly escorted out of the amphitheater.
“We all want that war in the Middle East to end,” Harris responded.
She’s right – and I hope that as president, she acts to end it.
When it comes down to it, however, she is the candidate I see my values aligning with the most. And she knows what is at stake in this election. Even her unsatisfying response to the fighting in the Middle East is better than what Trump would do if he were to regain power.
That was a theme at the rally.
“Even if you don’t agree with her on everything, Kamala Harris will fight for you until the very end,” North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper told the crowd at one point.
As I left the rally, I considered what I wanted America to look like. I want it to be where the people I love feel safe and can get ahead and where facts and truth rule the day. That is the version of America Harris is fighting for. That’s why I voted for her.
Follow USA TODAY elections columnist Sara Pequeño on X, formerly Twitter, @sara__pequeno