Present parties included Superintendent of Public Instruction Glenda Ritz , Secretary of State candidate Beth White , auditor candidate Michael Claytor , treasurer candidate Mike Boland and Indiana House District 60 representative candidate Daymon Brodhacker.
The rally emphasized canvassing for the Democratic party for their candidates for the upcoming election.
“The most effective thing you can do these next six days is call,” Democratic Monroe County Council member Shelli Yoder commented.
The IU College Democrats have completed other initiatives during the semester, including making calls at phone banks and registering 1,105 voters.
Glenda Ritz, who was elected in 2012 in a highly contested race against then-Superindentent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett , talked about the importance of grassroots campaigns.
While she said they do not raise nearly as much money, they reach many people by branching out with tools such as social media.
While the rally was to urge students to vote in the midterm election, all candidates took time to emphasize major policy initiatives, especially education reform.
“Educators are fed up,” Ritz said. “We have over a dozen running state-wide.”
Ritz has proposed a 3-percent increase for public schools and that Indiana have free textbooks. Ritz said 22 percent of children in Indiana live in poverty and that Indiana is one of eight states without free school textbooks.
The Indiana Republican agenda that was released earlier this month emphasized educational funding changes.
“If you change the funding formula, you’re just moving around the money,” Ritz said.
Mike Boland, candidate for Treasurer , discussed raising funding for the state as a whole by investing in banks and other places in Indiana to earn higher interest rates on investments.
“The treasurer’s office is the only office that raised more money without raising taxes or fees,” he said.
Boland said in an interview after the meeting that he plans to donate the entirety of his treasurer’s salary to scholarships and charitable organizations in the state of Indiana. If elected treasurer, he would earn $200,000 in a four-year term.
Marion County Clerk Beth White, candidate for Secretary of State against Connie Lawson , urged the audience in attendance to use their votes for the changes they would like to see made in ?Indiana.
“Politics is the art of the possible,” she said.
Spanish education student Tyler Krown said she was excited to vote after ?attending the rally.
“It got me fired up,” she said. “Especially Glenda Ritz.”
