Student political groups aiming to influence

With a clipboard in hand, student Spencer Cousins stands fixed near the water fountain in front of Northrop Hall early Tuesday afternoon.
When students walk by, the PIRG intern asks, “Are you registered to vote?” Most people pass by and nod “yes,” and others ignore his request. Still, Cousins takes part in the voter outreach because one more voter, he said, can enact political change.

“I’m disillusioned with the electoral environment, and this is a way to help out,” he said. “It’s not a huge, immediate difference. It is an accumulative process and the more we have to help, the more we can get done.”

Leland Churan, an intern with the Martin Heinrich campaign, is the lead organizer for the UNM Students for Heinrich, a group supported by Heinrich’s campaign and formed to last until election day.

Churan said the group runs voter registration drives and hosts events that educate students about the congressman. He said the goal is to drive students to the polls.

“Community activism, historically, has been a real big part of life on campus. Traditionally, university students are our constituents,” he said. “We want to make sure students show up to vote. Registering them is key, then. We want to sign up people to vote early.”

Last year Eric Mcinteer was the press secretary for the College Republicans. A recent graduate, he said he joined the group because the Republican party is disconnected with students.

“At the time, the group lacked an infrastructure to mobilize voters at UNM,” Mcinteer said.
Mcinteer’s experience highlighted a problem with student political organizations once the campaign season ends.
“Students tend to fall off at the end of the election cycle,” he said. “While I was there, we built a good communication structure, but we need people who want to be part of College Republicans for life.”

Churan said his group expects students to drop off once the polls close. He reminds students to join the College Democrats to ensure policy pressure follows their votes.

“A lot of people in our group are members of both,” he said. “I would encourage people to join both because the College Democrats are more of a permanent organization,”

Tommy Joel, a high ranking offical in the College Republicans, said his work with the student group led to a job with working with a congressional race.

“I started out as an intern with Jon Barela, through hard work and interest in the campaign, I became a staffer,” Joel said. Joel, a senior, is active with daily campaign operations. He said he worked to get Barela a guest lecture stint on campus later this semester.
“With the issues the country is facing we feel students need to participate,” he said.