With Election Day on Tuesday, Syracuse University students have taken time to support the campaigns of local congressional candidates and encourage the community to get out and vote.

Both the College Republicans of SU and the College Democrats of SU have been working to support candidates in the 24th Congressional district — Rep. Dan Maffei (D-Syracuse), and John Katko, the Republican challenger. Both clubs have been increasing their support for the campaign’s activity as the voting day approaches.

The College Democrats at SU works as an organization to support Maffei, the incumbent, during his re-election campaign. The group has hosted as well as volunteered in several phone banks to reach out to the community and encourage them to vote Democrat, said club president Anthony Rini, a senior international relations major.

The organization works with a field coordinator in the area to be able to volunteer at phone banks and make calls to the community to encourage people to vote for Maffei, said Sean Kennedy, vice president of College Democrats at SU. As Election Day draws closer, members have participated in last-minute efforts, including a phone bank on Thursday and some individual efforts over the weekend.

The College Democrats has been conducting its work through student-to-student outreach, and has the goal of giving students the resources they need to become informed voters, Rini said. Other activities the group did earlier in the semester include helping potential voters register for the upcoming election.

Rini said most of the feedback the group has gotten during its outreach to the community has been friendly and receptive, however a mix of both positive and negative reactions is expected. An objective that the College Democrats has for next semester is having a speaker come to the SU campus to speak to students, Kennedy said.

On the other side of the aisle, many members of the College Republicans at SU have been dedicating their weekends to supporting the Katko congressional campaign, said club president Marissa Fenning, a junior economics and international relations dual major, in an email.

At one of its meetings this semester, the College Republicans at SU hosted Katko and he was able to speak to members about his campaign and platform, Fenning said.

The organization has been consistently reminding members about being proactive for the upcoming election. That includes discussing the importance of sending in absentee ballots if members are not from the Syracuse area, Fenning said.

Both organizations offer potential benefits for students interested in politics. The opportunity to become involved in events such as phone banks to inform voters and encourage citizens to vote gives students the ability to become involved in the world of politics early, said Kennedy, a senior political science and history major.

Being able to get students, particularly underclassmen, involved in the field and obtain internships is vital to both groups. In doing this, they can be exposed to what a campaign is really like and work their way up the chain by furthering their experience in the political world. This is an important part of the work done this semester, Kennedy said.

The opportunity to be actively involved in campaigns is something Fenning said is beneficial to students.

Said Fenning: “We want to encourage our members to experience grassroots politics first hand.”

Published on November 3, 2014 at 12:01 am

Contact Erin: eemcdona@syr.edu