Students across the 5Cs have been gearing up for the midterm elections on Nov. 3, campaigning for local politicians, providing assistance with voter registration and staying engaged in elections from Claremont to Congress.
This semester, 5C Democrats ran three to five events each week, including canvassing for local politicians, hosting candidate forums and doing literature drops for candidates the club has endorsed. Beyond local government, 5C Democrats host national organizing Zoom calls where students passionate about politics can come together, discuss current events and learn how they can get more involved with organizing.
“The reason why it’s important for students to get involved is to show that we’re not just going to sit back and let Donald Trump, or Congress … take away our future,” 5C Democrats President Eli Jobrack Lundy CM ’27 said. “We’re going to fight for our freedom. We’re going to fight for our values.”
For 5C Democrats, according to Jobrack Lundy, these elections are a critical opportunity to encourage people to vote for politicians who can implement policy change and fight for their constituents.
“We pull 2 a.m. nights, where we canvass until 9 p.m. and then we do all our homework,” Jobrack Lundy said. “In the middle of exam season, you have people coming out and canvassing with us — it’s because it matters and it’s because we can make a difference, and that is the fundamental guiding principle of our organization.”
Despite much of College Republicans’ leadership being abroad this fall, thus not hosting midterm election events, acting President Shiv Parihar CM ’28 stressed the importance of voting in every election.
“We should be very grateful we don’t live in a country where you can’t vote,” Parihar said. “I think democracy is something we should all be very grateful for. So exercise your right.”
Outside student-led clubs, elections are being discussed in the classroom, according to Nicholas Coughlin PZ ’29. He said his professors, including Claremont McKenna College government professor John Pitney who teaches the course Political Parties, are incorporating conversations about the upcoming election into their classes.
“[For] almost every class in Political Parties we’ve discussed the midterms,” Coughlin said. “He says he wants us to be updated on recent news because we kind of tie political theory and history of politics into what’s happening in the modern day.”
Nonpartisan clubs like Every Vote Counts (EVC) Claremont have been tabling outside dining halls recently, helping students register to vote, including out-of-state students who want to change their registration to California from their home state. EVC Claremont also provides free stamps and envelopes to make filling out mail-in ballots more accessible.
“The first step to get involved is just to vote yourself,” Chloe Black CM ’29, EVC Claremont director of finance and operations, said. “If there’s one thing I tell you, it would just be to vote. It really takes about five minutes.”
Black also said that people should value voting because it is not a right that everyone has.
“A lot of people only think about themselves when voting, but I think voting is a right in America that you should exercise, it’s also like a privilege,” Black said. “We need to recognize the fact that so many people worldwide, and some people in America specifically, aren’t able to vote.”
Students from both political parties ultimately affirmed the importance of young voters stepping up in this year’s midterms.
“It’s really important, especially for us young people, us college students, to vote and share their voices, make [our] voices heard,” Coughlin said. “Even if you’re voting in a place where your vote won’t make a huge difference — it’s still symbolic. All those votes add up, and you never know what could happen.”