College Democrats and Republicans Prepare For Elections

By Noah Essenmacher

SVSU’s College Democrats and College Republicans have their own executive elections coming up this winter.

The College Democrats will elect new officers in two weeks while the College Republicans will hold their election during the first week of the winter semester. 

Senior political science major and current vice president of the College Democrats Darren Kregger said incumbent officers will run unopposed for new offices in the annual election. 

“There is actually only one contested race,” he said. “There are three returning board members who don’t have any competition, and I think we are all nominated again because they trust us and we work hard [to] make sure things get done.”

“[We] make sure that people are on the same page. There is a lot of communication going on.”

Kregger is nominated for president, and political science major and current secretary Justin Alexander is nominated for vice president. Current treasurer John Kauten is nominated for another term in his current office.

The contested race for the secretary office will be decided in two weeks. Kregger expresses confidence in all of the candidates.

“For all of the candidates, no matter who wins the one contested race, they’re all more than capable of leading,” he said. “Really, from our leadership, I’m looking for stability and consistency and making sure things still get done and bringing new ideas to the table.”

The College Republicans are looking for leaders who are hard-working and committed to their organization according to political science junior and president Brandon Sprague. 

Other current executive board members include political science junior and vice president Bridget Sobek, political science junior and secretary Aaron Baylis, and elementary education sophomore and treasurer Tara Robishaw.

Sprague said switching the group’s election to an “every-semester cycle” was a decision made with hopes of increasing student involvement.

“We had been electing once a year, and we felt that with people joining midway through the year that it really wasn’t fair to them to have it locked in for a year,” he said. 

Sprague said biannual fall and winter elections prevent future officers from becoming complacent in their positions, a situation that Sprague said has not been an issue for current leaders. 

The College Republicans hold elections for president, vice president, secretary and treasurer. Current office holders are renominated unless they choose not to run, and challengers must be nominated and seconded. 

“What we will do is have anyone that is nominated in an actual race will get up and have a few minutes to give a speech about why they deserve the position,” Sprague said. 

Sprague encourages student involvement in the College Republicans and its elections. The group plans several activities, including a trip to the 2009 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington, D.C.

“Come to one of our meetings and see what we are all about,” Sprague said. “Myself included, we’re not the stereotypical Republicans. There is very much diversity in our group. We have people who align more with the Libertarian Party and some that come in because they have more right-leaning views, but just as a group we are very diverse on many issues.” 

Sprague said the organization’s goal is to get Republicans elected to local positions and to increase Republican presence on campus.

Kregger welcomes interested students to attend College Democrats meetings and find out more about the group. Voting privileges within the group are reserved for members who are “involved and showing up for meetings.”

“If [students] can come and they want to be involved ... there are cabinet positions where there is probably going to be more turnover in appointed positions.”

In addition to supporting Democratic candidates, Kregger said the organization seeks an active presence on campus. 

The group is planning a Casablanca theme party, a fundraiser in the Saginaw community and an event for the United States presidential inauguration. 

“One of the biggest recruitment opportunities is always the Cards Party in the fall,” he said. “But also it is just getting our name out there or doing events on campus to show people that we are active.”