By Ashna Balroop
On March 11, voters in College Park’s District 3 will head to the polls in a special election to vote for their new city council representative. One of the options on the ballot will include Gannon Sprinkle, a University of Maryland student.
If elected, Sprinkle, a junior government and politics major with a double minor in economics and public policy, will make history as the first undergraduate student on the College Park City Council. The District 3 City Council seat has been empty since Jan. 8, 2025 due to the resignation of council member Stuart Adams, according to DC News Now.
Sprinkle credits his initial interest in the field of politics to the negative outcomes of the first Trump Administration.
“I saw many general service systems negatively affected as well under the first [Trump] administration when I was in high school,” Sprinkle said. “I wanted to try to make [the world] one of the best places we could, but also just to be able to meet new people every day and work with people to try to find compromises and solutions to public policy problems.”
Sprinkle, who is passionate about the College Park community, intends to stay in the city long term.
“I’m currently applying to a Master’s in Public Policy Program, [and] leasing a house in old town next year with my roommates right now,” Sprinkle said.
Sprinkle has served in different positions in student government, most notably as the deputy student liaison to the College Park City Council. In this position, Sprinkle learned the differences in power between members and students within the council and noted that the experience helped him prepare for his current candidacy.
“We were non-voting members of the city council, and we were not allowed to propose action items or agenda items,” Sprinkle said. “So we had the ability to influence topics that were on the table, but we had very little influence to bring new topics to the conversation.”
Sprinkle hopes to introduce new topics if elected. He is running his campaign on affordable housing, tenant rights and bicycle and pedestrian safety. One of the main ideas Sprinkle is advocating for, an early lease ordinance, aims to curb the artificial demand increases in the university housing market.
“[As soon as] the housing deadline passes and students are no longer able to secure a dorm for next year, the apartments off campus rates shoot up immediately, and more than that, they also pressure their tenants to release as soon as possible, to try to influence them and incentivize them into releasing for too much money early,” Sprinkle said.
The early lease ordinance would put a retroactive timeline on releasing apartments.
These campaign issues have helped Sprinkle pick up key endorsements from the UMD College Democrats and the Inter-Fraternity Council.
Mace Viemeister, co-president of the UMD College Democrats and a sophomore public policy and American studies major, believes Sprinkle’s candidacy is important because his views on affordable housing and sustainability align with those of the club. They also believe that his age is an extremely important factor.
“A lot of things we hear within our club are frustrations with current politicians, especially when it comes to their age,” Viemeister said. “He’s a junior in college, and we think it’s really important that young people are involved but they also run for office, and especially because we like what he’s all about and appreciate his mission.”
Viemeister also believes Sprinkle’s candidacy is extremely important as he would be the first undergraduate to hold a position on the city council.
“UMD college students don’t really have representation like that. We don’t really have a voting member on city council,” Viemeister said. “I think it would be really monumental for people on campus to get heard by the city because they are residents, too.”
Mason Hill, a senior majoring in government and politics, has known Sprinkle for almost three years. Hill finds Sprinkle’s candidacy extremely important, as he also believes students deserve a voice on the city council.
“We contribute a lot to the College Park economy. We help create community here,” Hill said.
Hill hopes Sprinkle will be the first student on the city council and believes that his viewpoints on issues affecting College Park residents can create change and set him apart from other candidates.
“I think his viewpoints on rent and issues that a lot of us, especially student renters, deal with are really pertinent, and hopefully, if enough people you know show up to care about those issues, that he can win and really make some good changes for everyone in the community, both students and long term residents,” Hill said.
On a personal level, Hill believes that Sprinkle is determined and attentive to city politics, given his history as a student liaison to the city council.
“He’s really resilient. I’ve never seen him, like, give up on anything necessarily.” Hill said. “It’s super clear that he really cares about city politics and the city of College Park in general.”
Sprinkle hopes to encourage dialogue between local elected officials and people on campus for the greater benefit of College Park.
“I consider myself a progressive individual,” Sprinkle said. “I think that there’s many things, many policies that the City of College Park could advance in, and I think that we could bridge the gap between student residents and long term residents.”
Featured Image: Gannon Sprinkle, a junior government and politics major and City Council Candidate for College Park District 3. Photo provided by Gannon Sprinkle.