Meet the College Democrats

Joshua Schuetz
Staff Writer

Midterm exams might be finished, but midterm elections are coming in November, and the College Democrats are looking for more political engagement from by the campus community.

They’ve got their work cut out for them. Just over half of young voters intend to vote in 2018, according to a poll by NBC News, and midterm elections usually have much lower turnout amongst young voters than presidential elections.

“Our goal is to get as many people as humanly possible to vote,” said Kyle Edwards, a member of the College Democrats. “Red, blue, anything in between, as long as you vote!”

Emma Fuhrman, President of the College Democrats, agreed. She said, “The priority for the College Democrats as the midterm elections approach is to engage as many students to vote as possible.”

Accomplishing that involving registering students to vote, encouraging political discussion, and hosting events with candidates at the local, state, and national levels, to make students aware of who their candidates and representatives are.

They’re also encouraging like-minded students to join the organization, touting its benefits. “The biggest benefit for me was meeting a ton of like-minded individuals. This RSO has been the best platform to express who I am and what I believe to this community,” Edwards said.

Students join for my reasons, but one commonality was the chance to make a difference in politics and by extension, the world. “I decided to join this organization to make an actual change, not just posting my views on Facebook. I wanted to be involved in the real world and meet people with similar views,” Fuhrman said.

Edwards stated that the biggest challenge facing the organization currently was membership and getting more people involved. “The more people we have, the more we can get done on campus,” said Edwards.

Those events include rallies with political candidates. On Nov. 1, there will be a rally on campus for a number of candidates, including Dan Feehan, Tim Walz, and Tina Smith.

Fuhrman said that the organization is planning numerous events for the future, to benefit the community and the organization. Those include social justice dialogues, events to introduce students to the College Democrats, and opportunities to engage with the community more generally.

The midterm election will take place take place on Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2018. Students who are registered to vote in Mankato can do so on campus, at the Wiecking Center.

Feature photo courtesy of College Democrats Facebook page.