By Min Shin and Azure Chesney
American Flag Stands Tall in Front of Old Main on Penn State University’s Campus
Centre County Republicans Meet at Champs Sports Bar and Grill
By Min Shin and Azure Chesney
Centre County Residents and Officials Ready for the Voting Polls
STATE COLLEGE, Pa – With the upcoming Primary election on April 26th, it is becoming more common to see Democratic and Republican representatives disagree on various policies, but one matter that they both share in agreement is ensuring their preferred party prevails.
Both the local Democratic and Republican parties are working on ways to make sure that they are doing all they can to support the Presidential Election. The Centre County Republicans who have an office located on South Allen street holds meetings including local residents and officials from surrounding counties. These meetings , typically in various locations, allow people to share opinions and different perspectives on local issues and the upcoming elections.
Their most recent meeting held at Champs Sports Bar and Grill, featured local residents and politicians including the supervisor of Benner Township, Mark Capriani, and the chairman of the Centre County Republicans, Steve Miller.
Miller explains that in order to see the Republican party prevail , it is necessary to unite Independents, Libertarians, working class Democrats and the Reagan Democratic Coalition, which was a group of democratic voters who voted for a republican president because of certain policy issues that he supported.
In addition to Miller’s opinions on how to best support the republican party, the Chairman describes how local residents are reacting by calling and visiting the office with concerns regarding the upcoming election.
“People that come in and have passion tend to be a little more extreme in their views,” Miller Said. “ They are the people who are angry and say ‘If it’s not my candidate, then I am staying home’.”
Democratic chairman, Greg Stewart, also explains how local democrats are reacting to to the upcoming primary and general elections.
“We’re not really getting any frustrating phone calls and there has been a lot of supporters coming in to support Hillary clinton,” Stewart said.
The office for Bernie Sanders campaign, which also has many supporters and volunteers was originally housed inside of the Centre County Democrat’s office on South Allen until they relocated down the street .
Stewart says that the Centre County Democrats plans on canvassing a few days before the election to remind people that their vote counts.
“Leading up to the election, what we do, we call ‘ Get Out the Vote’ which is where you have identified who your voters are a month in advance,” Stewart said.
To make this the most effective , the campaign members generally call voters repeatedly using a database that analyzes voter preferences. This was most successful for the Obama Administration where President Obama won both terms using this exact system.
Canvassers plan on calling potential voters during the last the last three days before the election on the 23rd, 24th and 25th of April to remind them to go to the polls.
For more information on where and how to vote in this month’s election, visit http://centrecountypa.gov/.