President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday night swept his third consecutive election in the conservative stronghold of Alabama.

He won Alabama by 65% this time, up from about 62% in 2020 and 2016.

What drove that overwhelming show of support for Trump in Alabama? And what motivated those in the minority that voted for Vice President Kamala Harris?

For 22-year-old Leah Pursifull, voting for Trump felt like a vote to keep the Mobile-area coffee shop she owns open and thriving.

“Most people can’t afford to work a cool job like this, just because of how the economy is. So, I mean, you look back when he was in office, it was way better,” Pursifull said. “Look at the world right now, like how high prices are, like people can hardly survive.”

In Birmingham, Cheryl Knight, 41, works in finance and cast a ballot for Trump in hopes that he will make daily living more affordable.

“I do hope that he will work on helping bring prices down, so I know he’s looked at doing that a lot through focusing on the oil, so to help bring prices down there, which will hopefully have a trickle-down effect,” she said.

Charlie Spencer, a longtime Republican voter in Birmingham said he left the response for his presidential vote blank on his ballot, saying he could not support Trump.

“I don’t think either one of them is fit to be president,” he said, adding that he would like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to be in the role.

“He’s demeaning to people,” Spencer said of Trump. “He’s very vindictive and he, to me, that he’s not really in control of his faculties. He talks all over himself, (he) contradicts himself, and he threatens people.”

Spencer said he has been watching MSNBC, a liberal-leaning television network, and said he thinks the coastal commentators don’t understand the country because they live in a bubble. He referenced the Blacks and Latinos who shifted their votes towards Trump this election.

Several Harris supporters in Alabama told AL.com they hope Trump does a good job. Others said they were baffled at how so many people could support her opponent.

“It’s like our parents joined the cult and we got dragged into it,” said Elizabeth Hannon, 58, Mobile. “I can’t even begin to understand what his appeal is to people, but it’s there, right? I don’t think anybody could have won against him.”

Birmingham resident Betty Knight, an 82-year-old lifelong Democratic voter, said she does not believe the United States is ready to elect a female president, unlike countries in Europe.

“I was for her, but I didn’t think she had a chance,” Knight said. “A woman in this United States of America, they’re not ready for that yet. They’re not like England.”

Still, Knight hopes for the best for the next four years.

“We have to support whoever,” she said. “The showman got in, so eventually I’ll be okay, and hopefully he will do something good.”

Vicki Durst, 61, of Birmingham said she voted for Harris because she just doesn’t like Trump.

“I couldn’t even pinpoint one thing or another. It’s just I don’t really know much about Harris either. I just know that I don’t like Trump.”

Other people AL.com spoke with said that they did not vote, either because they felt uninformed or because they did not believe they would make a difference as Democratic voters.

One man in Birmingham said he had not voted in an election since he was drafted against his will for the Vietnam War.

Some Trump supporters voiced ambivalence about their vote. Brandon Erwin, 45, of Mobile, would prefer to vote for a libertarian candidate.

“I’m just very socially conservative, and that’s why I would lean more towards just a conservative party,” he said.

His daughter, Kylee, 21, cast her first presidential vote for Trump as well.

“I read up on both him and Harris before the election, just so I would go into it with like, a clear mind,” Kylee said. “And what stood out to me, was that he was going to cut funding going towards that [Ukraine] war, as well as fixing up the border and deporting illegal immigrants.”

He said he is interested in RFK’s health agenda.

“I have a young daughter and so that’s made us a lot more aware of just all the things and crap that goes into our food.”

Jackson Bradford, 32, of Hoover, leans moderate conservative and chose to cast his ballot for Robert F. Kennedy, who he said he feels is more reasonable than Trump.

Bradford said he is glad to get Trump’s last four years out of the way.

Weather Rollings, 33, of Birmingham, said she voted for Trump. She said she is a strong conservative, and her husband, who is more liberal, also voted for Trump.

While she said she wouldn’t want to “get a beer” with Trump, she is pleased with the election results.

She said the economy was her top priority, and she believes his tariffs plan will help bring down inflation. Her other focus was on her toddler daughter and making sure she does not encounter a transgender person in an athletic context some day.

“I think that female sports should be biological females, and I think male sports should be same both ways,” she said. “I just want to keep her innocence as long as possible.”