Students work to elect Pennsylvania governor

Charles “Chazz” Aden remembers walking around his house with a Gore/Lieberman… Charles “Chazz” Aden remembers walking around his house with a Gore/Lieberman button on his chest during the 2000 presidential election.

Ever since then, politics have intrigued Aden, a Pitt freshman studying history and political science.

Several hundred miles separate Aden from his home in northern New Jersey. But nothing — not even 10 years of passing time — can separate him from politics.

“It’s what I do,” Aden said. “I never even thought about not being active here.”

Aden works for the gubernatorial campaign of Democrat Joe Hoeffel, the current Montgomery County commissioner. Even though he’s not registered to vote in Pennsylvania, Aden couldn’t imagine not being involved in campaigns.

But Aden does not follow the trends his generation has set. Statistics show that few college-aged students vote in primary elections or join Pitt political organizations. This is despite the fact that several campaign employees say college-aged students will play an integral role in their work as they prepare for the state’s primary elections, which will be held May 18. Some volunteers even turn their work into full-time jobs.

An (almost) no-show generation

Most students do not become politically active in college, but those who do tend to go at it full force.

Turnout among young voters is lower than any other demographic, and turnout rates on Pitt’s campus were less than 10 percent in the last election.

Less than 3 percent of the more than 3,600 people registered to vote in the area including Bouquet Street and the Forbes Quadrangle voted in November 2009, when people chose their mayor and other local representatives.

Less than 1 percent of the students on Pitt’s campus are actively involved in the Pitt College Republicans or the Pitt College Democrats.

Alicia Harris, the program director for the Pitt College Democrats, said that the club has about 50 active members and that about 20 of them work on gubernatorial or senatorial campaigns at any given time.

Rachel Feinstein, president of the Pitt College Republicans, said that she sees between 30 and 35 students at most of their meetings. Her club supported Attorney General Tom Corbett’s campaign for governor. State Rep. Sam Rohrer, R-128th, is also running for the Republican nomination.

Since the College Republicans endorsed Corbett, they have focused on working on individual events rather than on campaigns, Feinstein said. Ten to 15 people might volunteer for a campaign event that the club hears about, she said.

College-aged students, or at least those at Pitt, appear to be less involved in politics than members of older generations.

Just prior to the 2008 presidential election, when Democratic candidates were heavily courting young voters, people ages 18 to 24 had the lowest turnout rate of any age group, at 48 percent, according to the U.S. Census Bureau website.

People ages 25 to 44 had the next lowest rates, at 60 percent. Voters older than 65 had a turnout rate of more than 65 percent.

“If we just voted in the same numbers as those over 65,” Aden said, “we could change the government.”

All this occurs despite the fact that campaigns rely heavily on college volunteers.

Matt Merriman-Preston, Hoeffel’s Western Pennsylvania coordinator, said about 70 percent of their volunteers are college-aged. Preston, who began working in politics as a student, said that volunteering is “more fun than stressful” for students.

Student volunteers can make “a huge impact on the community,” Preston said.

An exception to the low-turnout rule

Aden spends much of his time on the Hoeffel campaign doing door-to-door canvassing, making phone calls, organizing phone banks and filling out paperwork.

His work is similar to that of the people who volunteer for Corbett by blowing up balloons or handing out pamphlets, Feinstein said.

Aden, a Democrat, grew up in Morris County, N.J., where current Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican, won by more than 25 percent in the last election. For Aden, it was strange to vote as an absentee after being so heavily involved in his hometown politics.

“It felt weird not working in a campaign in November,” Aden said.

Aden first volunteered with John Kerry’s presidential campaign in 2004, and the next year he volunteered for Democrat Thom Jackson’s campaign for the New Jersey State Assembly. Over the next few years, Aden worked on a number of campaigns — local, state and federal — before coming to Pitt.

Growing up in a heavily Republican district made him “appreciate the victories we could get.” Working on the campaigns tied his and his fellow volunteers’ emotions tightly to the results, Aden said.

“We learned to associate election night with crippling depression,” Aden said.

Of the four Democratic choices for Pennsylvania governor — Hoeffel, Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato, Auditor General Jack Wagner and former state Rep. Anthony Williams are running for the position — Aden decided to work for Hoeffel because he supported his stances on issues like funding for public education, progressive tax policy and civil rights and marriage equality.

Aden “stacked” most of his classes on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, so that he can volunteer at the Hoeffel office the rest of the week. His classwork can get rushed to the point of writing an entire seven-page midterm paper the night before it is due, he said.

After practice comes the pay

Some students who have worked like Aden has have turned their internships and volunteer work into jobs.

Pitt senior Aleigha Cavalier began working for Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato as an intern in October 2008 and was hired for the gubernatorial campaign last December. She currently serves as the operations manager for his campaign, handling the purchase and shipping of office supplies and coordinating communications between the campaign’s four regional offices. She also supervises and hires the interns that work in the Pittsburgh office, all but two of whom are college-aged.

The staff furnished the campaign office with temporary furniture. Each office door had a paper sheet taped outside with the occupant’s name on it. All of the staffers work on laptops that rest on the folding tables they use for desks.

The interns work in a series of partitions in the middle of the office. A large section of wall holds taped sheets of paper with the names of Pennsylvania’s counties.

The entire campaign could come to a halt if Onorato loses the primary in May. It could also run through the November general election. Cavalier said she hasn’t thought about what she might do if Onorato loses the primary.

While working on a campaign might just be a form of volunteering for others, it is different for her.

“This is the first job of my career,” she said.

Cavalier still has a full class load. She works in Onorato’s office during the day and takes most of her classes at night.

The campaign and classes could get a little crazy, but the hectic lifestyle of a campaign worker doesn’t always slow down after graduation.

Ashley Chunko graduated from Kutztown University in eastern Pennsylvania this past May. She has been working on Attorney General Tom Corbett’s campaign since June.

Her job grew out of an internship. She interned for a semester in Corbett’s office her senior year. When she graduated and the internship ended, the campaign hired her.

“I couldn’t think of a better first job,” she said.

The job has grown to fill the space classwork left behind. “It’s a seven-days-a-week, always-on-call kind of job,” she said.

What keeps her going through all the long nights and weekends is the possibility that her candidate could be the next governor.