TORONTO -- For married couple Kelly and Jimmy Nixon, politics are pretty much the only thing they disagree and fight about. They moved to Wallaceburg, Ont. from the United States after President Donald Trump won in 2016.
Kelly, a Canadian with dual citizenship, voted for Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton four years earlier. This time, she cast her ballot for Joe Biden, while her husband Jimmy’s “guy” is unquestionably Trump.
“I’m just a die-hard Republican,” he told CTV News Channel on Tuesday.
“I pretty much identify with all the Republican issues. There are some things I know he’s kind of dropped the ball on. But he’s still my guy.”
Kelly said she was always a Liberal party supporter, so when she moved to Tennessee, she found her politics aligned more with the Democrats.
“Last election, I voted Democrat. That didn’t work out, so I’m sticking with it again. I’m all about them having health care down there and everything else, so I’m a full-on Democrat,” Kelly said.
Countless family ties and relationships have been broken over this year’s U.S. elections, as many view the gulf over fundamental values a divide far too wide to reconcile.
In fact, among both Republicans and Democrats, four-in-ten registered voters said they did not have a single close friend who supported the opposing candidate, according to a survey put out in September by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center. The poll, conducted over the summer, found that most voters shared the same political preferences as their friends.
When asked what it means to be married to a Democrat, Jimmy laughed. “Oh boy.”
“It means he’s lucky,” Kelly interjected. “It’s the only time we argue -- it’s about politics.”
The Nixons moved back to Canada a little over two years ago, and while the change has altered Jimmy’s politics in some ways, he still leans toward the right.
Four years ago, as Trump’s victory grew imminent on election night, Google searches for moving to Canada surged and Canada’s citizenship and immigration website briefly crashed amid the spike in interest. Over the subsequent weeks and months, Americans made inquiries with immigration lawyers and consultants, and some even applied for permanent residency. In reality, however, Canada did not see a flood of Americans pouring over the borders -- it’s not as easy as some people might assume. The Nixons were among those who did make the move.
The couple are watching the battleground states closely, as well as the Senate races, where Democrats need to flip four Republican-held seats in order to take control.
“I’m more hopeful this year than I was last election,” Kelly said, who was particularly excited to see more younger voters and women coming out during the early voting period.
“I’m really, really, really excited to see the younger generation come out. I think climate change is big for them. It’s big for me and it’s good to see them coming out the way they are.”
While Jimmy doesn’t have much faith in the polls given what happened in 2016, he knows it could still be a tough fight for Trump. “He’s got to win Florida. If he doesn’t, then I don’t believe there’s any way.”
For him, the president’s handling of the pandemic could be the biggest issue that will cost him this election.
“We all know it’s COVID. It’s out there. I mean, I’ve got family that are back at home still and that I still worry about. I mean, COVID is probably going to be the game-changer in all of it,” he acknowledged.
“If he loses, it will be because of COVID ...That actually scares me -- COVID does.”
