College Republicans prepare for upcoming election season

The November midterm elections are the first since the Democrats replaced Republicans in the White House, and the IU College Republicans are working to raise support for their candidates.

Of the upcoming activities the club has planned, nothing is more important than recruiting, and in a recent callout meeting, the group broke a statewide record for attendance.

“In our callout meeting we had 159 people. And the statewide record before, for any kind of College Republican meeting anywhere throughout the state, was 110,” Justin Kingsolver, president and Indiana Daily Student columnist, said.

Kingsolver said he thinks Washington, D.C. has a direct correlation with the large number of volunteers for the Republican Party.

“I think people are fed up with the fact that we have had liberal hegemony in Washington, D.C. since 2006,” Kingsolver said. “They’ve controlled both houses of Congress and the presidency since 2008, and a lot of the policies enacted over the last two years. But moreover in the last four years, there have been policies that a wide majority of Americans disagree with.”

Treasurer Kristopher Baker said he sees the upcoming elections as a barometer for the country moving forward.

“I think people really realize the value of this election, and no matter where they stand on it, they realize that this is the first chance to assess what happened in 2008 and make decisions about where they want their country to go,” Baker said.

The organization is also active in getting the word out about their candidates — Todd Young for the 9th District Congressional seat and Dan Coats for the Senate — through phone banks.

Phone banks allow volunteers to call different individuals to find out what their political affiliation is and who they support in the upcoming election.

In addition to the phone banks, Baker said IUCR will assist in campaigns for positions here in Bloomington with some activities that are off the radar.

“We do things such as walking in a parade and going door to door to help the candidates,” Baker said.

IUCR External Vice Chairman Barrett Tenbarge said he thinks that at this time the Republican candidates could fare pretty well considering the town’s history of
Democrat domination.

“Bloomington will never go Republican in terms of an overall vote, but it’s definitely trending Republican this year, and I think we can do a very good job,” Tenbarge said. “And I really think that Todd Young and Dan Coats will surprise people.”

The final weeks before the election is the most important and pressure-packed, Tenbarge said, with different planned events for the IUCR.

“We’re going to be hitting the phone banks hard,” Tenbarge said. “We will have lists of students who have told us they’re registered to vote, and we will be sending out some reminder e-mails about making sure to get to the polls.”

“We will be coordinating our get-out-to-vote efforts in terms of people needing to be driven to the polls, whether they are students or people in the local community.”