In the midst of a slide in the polls for Republican nominee John McCain, College Republicans in Madison have added focus on more local races, now going toe-to-toe with the Democrats over the state Assembly.

College Republicans traveled to Sauk City Tuesday to support Republican Assembly candidate Nathan Russell as part of their efforts to focus on keeping the Assembly under GOP control.

The group dropped off literature around the area, according to College Republicans Chair Sara Mikolajczak. Russell is running against incumbent Rep. Steve Hilgenberg, D-Dodgeville.

She added keeping Republicans in control of the Assembly would be crucial to preventing the liberal agenda from being advanced in Wisconsin.

“Without the Republicans keeping their presence in the Assembly, there is going to be no check,” Mikolajczak said. “Any part of the agenda that the Democrats want to put forth will be able to be done without us stopping them.”

Mikolajczak said the College Republicans have done a lot to demonstrate awareness for the Republican Party during this presidential election between Democratic candidate Barack Obama and McCain.

“We’ve held rallies, distributed literature, made phone calls and done door knocks,” Mikolajczak said. “Whatever we need to do to show that there is a strong base here for McCain.”

McCain campaigned on Tuesday in Pennsylvania, an important battleground state for the Arizona senator as current polls show Obama leading by nine points.

The McCain campaign has not visited Wisconsin in nearly two weeks as polls show Obama leading the state by double digits.

“The McCain campaign is doing what it needs to do to secure votes, so if he needs to be in Pennsylvania, then he needs to be in Pennsylvania,” Mikolajczak said. “He is doing what he needs to do.”

Kirsten Kukowski, communications director for the Republican Party of Wisconsin, agreed with Mikolajczak, saying keeping the state Assembly is key to furthering the GOP agenda.

“If we lose control of the State Assembly, I think Wisconsinites will see their taxes go up, see massive spending increases and see government-run health care within the state,” Kukowski said.

Kukowski dismissed the recent polls showing large leads for Obama.

“There is no way that this race is going to be decided by 10 or more points,” Kukowski said.

College Republicans Vice Chair Kristen Wall agreed with Mikolajczak that a lot of work needs to be done on and off of campus to secure a McCain victory in Wisconsin and that keeping Republicans in the State Assembly remains vital to Wisconsin Republicans.

The group has hosted debate watching parties, written editorials and done phone banking. Wall said she believes College Republicans has a strong base and is “largely ignored by the media.”

“We are concerned that our conservative Republican ideology will be ignored,” Wall said.

College Democrats Chair Claire Rydell said that winning the state Assembly is seen as just as crucial to furthering the Democratic agenda.

In the upcoming days, College Democrats will also do literature drops to help Democratic candidates in tight Assembly races.

Rydell said that despite Obama’s lead in the polls, what will be done before Election Day still remains essential for Democrats.

“I think that Obama’s lead is wonderful,” Rydell said. “These next two weeks are extremely important; we can’t be complacent. We have to work just as hard and turn out the vote.”