After weeks of covert campaigning, the University of Wisconsin College Republicans officially endorsed Nancy Mistele for Dane County executive Monday evening, revealing they have, in fact, been extensively campaigning like their political counterpart, the College Democrats.
Both groups have been working hard to aid candidates and get out the vote for the upcoming elections for Supreme Court, county executive and City Council positions.
Focusing primarily on residential areas around the county instead of the heavily student populated downtown area, Sara Mikolajczak, chair of the College Republicans, said the political climate on campus and nonpartisan nature of the election deterred the group from delivering a public endorsement.
“Because of the political climate on campus, it wasn’t beneficial for us or the candidates we support. We go to Madison and having the College Republican name on anything can be damaging. It’s unfortunate, but it’s true,” Mikolajczak said.
The organization has been operating mostly covertly, often under the guise of Students for Mistele, another campus organization, Mikolajczak said.
With the “cat out of the bag,” she went on to iterate a number of campaign procedures College Republicans has been undertaking for Mistele’s election.
“We’ve been making phone calls, door knocking, ‘lit dropping’ — whatever the campaign has asked us to do. We have been trying to get people out there to help as much as humanly possible,” Mikolajczak said.
Claire Rydell, chair of the College Democrats, explained her group’s visible campaign efforts try to focus on simply getting people to the polls rather than trying to get them to vote for a particular candidate.
Actively participating in numerous campaign visibility initiatives such as sidewalk chalking, phone banking and door knocking, Rydell qualified her remarks, saying “many of these races are nonpartisan, but that does not mean that there aren’t candidates with which we share similar values, who have the same concerns over issues.”
While there is a natural tendency to draw party lines in any election, Jon Horne, Mistele’s campaign manager, explained that doing so in the county executive race would be unfruitful.
“If you try to look at this race as Republican versus Democrat, you are really missing the story,” he said. “There is a reason this is a nonpartisan race. It’s about the basics, filling in potholes and making sure the cops come when you call 911.”
Horne added these basic issues evade political labels as in the end people care about making sure these basic services are happening and executed competently.
Campaign participants from both sides agreed this election will play a vital role in the future of Dane County and provides a unique opportunity for students to affirm their interest and involvement in politics.
College Democrats Community Outreach Chair Molly Rivera said students’ efforts have shown they are much more involved than people assume.
“I think that really sends a huge message that not only do we pay attention, but we care who is representing us in many different offices,” Rivera said.
