By Maristela Romero
Political groups across the local and state community are gearing up to encourage a younger demographic to register to vote as the Maryland gubernatorial election nears.
Gov. Larry Hogan, who is the second Republican in Maryland to be elected as governor in the last 50 years, is campaigning for re-election against Democratic candidate Ben Jealous while on and off-campus organizations target young individuals to vote in the November race.
Many non-partisan groups like the Asian and Pacific Islander American Vote (APIA Vote) have turned to social media to engage college-aged individuals and educate them on their power to affect policy, said APIA Vote Representative Joy de Guzman.
“I think people are realizing that there are a lot of potential in colleges and in young people, and I think we’re starting to tap into that,” de Guzman said.
Other groups have taken a hands-on approach to student civic engagement.
TerpsVote, a non-partisan coalition at the University of Maryland, has been working on “grassroots tabling efforts” across campus and conducting registration drives at university-wide events like First Look Fair and the Quelcome to spread voting information among students, said Gideon Epstein, co-chair of the coalition.
The junior government and politics major noted that the gubernatorial election should encourage students to vote, since campus issues like the underfunding of the Title IX office and counseling center are influenced by statewide elections.
“You know, the governor has so much control over what happens in this university, in terms of how much money we get, in terms of what the leadership of the university looks like and how they act,” Epstein said.
Hogan’s re-election as Maryland state governor is a likely possibility, said Brandon Cooper, chairman of the Republican Central Committee for Prince George’s County (RCCPG), referencing Hogan’s past success in garnering votes in the deeply blue state for the last election.
“I think the proof is in the pudding,” Cooper said, citing a recent non-partisan poll by Mason-Dixon that he had seen, which showed Hogan with a 15-point lead in Prince George’s and Montgomery counties.
Although Cooper is a millennial who aligns himself with the Republican Party, he said most millennials tend to support the Democratic Party in states across the country, including Maryland. Still, he has hope that this won’t apply to the gubernatorial race this November.
“I think Hogan has a chance to buck that trend, and he’s doing very well in that demographic,” Cooper said. “Will he win it? Who knows. We’ll find out on Election Day. But he’s definitely polling very strongly among the younger voters compared to traditional Republican candidates.”
Regardless of party affiliation, Cooper emphasized the need for young individuals to become politically engaged and encouraged the efforts of political awareness groups to reach this audience through digital and intimate platforms.
Photo courtesy of TerpsVote