The post was written by Hatchet reporter Kaya Yurieff.
Months before Election Day, students canvassed neighborhoods, knocked on doors and made hundreds of phone calls to urge voters to get to the polls on Nov. 8.
Ryan O’Regan spent the fall interning for Barbara Favola, a Democrat from Arlington, Va., competing for one of 40 open state senate seats in Virginia.
Today, the freshman plans to dedicate “almost every free moment” working at the Arlington County Democratic Committee, eagerly awaiting results when the polls close at 7 p.m. Virginia Democrats hope to cling to their two-seat majority in the Senate.
“The best part of working on the Favola campaign has been working for a cause I really believe in and seeing results,” O’Regan said.
The College Democrats, of which O’Regan is a member, has also worked on Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear’s reelection campaign. Beshear is favored to beat out Republican contender David Williams in today’s contest.
Shiah Shahmohammadi, communications director for the College Democrats, said gubernatorial elections have traditionally low turnouts, about 10 to 15 percent in past years. Making calls to remind voters to head to the polls could change the course of the election, she said.
College Republicans are less active in this year’s elections compared to past years due to the not-so-publicized races, Dan Horning, a third-year member of the organization, said.
Horning, who works for Virginia senate hopeful Miller Baker, said many of this year’s local races “are low-profile.”
“Unless a person is super ambitious, they probably don’t know there are some very competitive elections,” the junior said.
Baker is fighting to unseat incumbent Sen. George Barker in a district that includes Alexandria, Va. and Fairfax, Va. The tight race is “statistically tied” and could be the push needed to give Republicans control of the state senate, Horning said.
Horning, who has experience on national campaigns like that of Republican presidential candidate Jon Huntsman, said students get a different experience working in local elections.
“You learn a lot more in depth about the issues than you do in national campaigns,” he said.
