Student political organizations begin planning for 2025 election momentum

Now that the 2024 presidential election results have been announced, political organizations on campus are shifting gears to prepare for primaries and local elections.

Both College Democrats at Pitt and Student Government Board are already strategizing on how to engage students in local politics. College Republicans at Pitt, on the other hand, do not plan to engage much in local politics.

“Ultimately, we won’t be super active in most of the local political affairs in the upcoming cycle,” College Republicans said in a statement to The Pitt News. “But we will keep presenting opportunities to our more politically involved part of the club as time goes on.”

They said they plan to continue with much of what they did during the 2024 election cycle — standard meetings, tabling and hosting speaker events with political figures like Ben Shapiro and Dave McCormick.

“All of what we did, besides door knocking, will continue as time goes on,” they wrote. “We will continue our tablings every Friday morning for the foreseeable future. We also will continue to put on major events throughout the semester in order to promote our ideals and the club.”

Sam Podnar, a junior politics and philosophy student and co-president of College Democrats at Pitt, acknowledged the efforts of the organization throughout the election process, though their preferred candidate, Vice President Kamala Harris, lost.

“We fought incredibly hard this election,” Podnar said. “We are now one of the largest, most active College Democrats chapters in the country, and Tuesday’s results do not erase the powerful young Democratic base we have created on campus. We are coming back stronger than ever, and we remain committed to our mission to build student power.” 

Throughout the semester, Podnar said they maintained an active membership body of 30-50 students and hosted a number of events that included regular canvasses, phone banks, tabling for voter registration and hosting elected officials at meetings.

“We made a big effort this semester to hold more social events so that people could form friendships, and we think that’s a big reason so many people kept coming back,” Podnar said. “We had watch parties, barbecues, tailgates, crafting and baking and a trip to Soergel’s. We even tabled several times on the corner of Semple and Bates late at night on the weekend to talk to as many students as possible.”

College Democrats at Pitt is planning to launch new club initiatives including community service events and professional development opportunities, as well as continuing to table regularly and hold social events, according to Podnar.

“For us, the organizing never stops,” Podnar said. “We will keep planning regular opportunities for students to stay involved in politics. Our first GBM after the election is an election debrief, where we’ll go over the results nationwide, in Allegheny County and on campus.” 

Podnar urges students and political activists “to remember that there are elections every year.”

“We’re gearing up for the local races next spring and fall, and we want to use these to get more of our members interested in local politics,” Podnar said. “We plan to host canvasses and phone banks for these candidates, bring these candidates in to speak and help our members find internship and job opportunities on these campaigns.” 

Marley Pinsky, sophomore urban planning and politics and philosophy major, chairs the Community and Governmental Relations Committee for Student Government Board. She said that her committee is also looking to get students engaged in local politics after the election.

One way they are looking to increase student engagement in local elections is by having asynchronous or canceled classes on all election days, which is a “big initiative” for SGB.

“We also don’t want this to be limited to presidential elections, but also other elections like local elections,” Pinsky said. 

The committee is planning to attend more community meetings and local government events, according to Pinsky. They plan to attend a “Let’s Talk” meeting with Oakland Planning and Development Corporation to learn more about the bus lines, Pinsky said.

“We want to start going to more events like that and then publicizing what we learn, so that students can be aware of the policies that might impact them and be aware of opportunities that they might have to advocate on those policies,” Pinsky said.

The committee wants to capitalize on a lot of the feelings people might be experiencing after the election by helping them “channel those feelings into making tangible change in their community,” Pinsky said. The group plans to promote opportunities to get involved in activism and volunteering that allow students to be civically engaged.

“Now is a very disheartening time for a lot of people with the results of the election,” Pinsky said. “If you want to channel that into something, you should and you can. There’s plenty of opportunities within SGB. Or if that’s not the way you want to do it, there’s plenty of opportunities around Pittsburgh, so get involved in something.” 

Ian Alexander, a first-year undecided major, followed the election closely by checking results frequently, especially the House of Representatives race. He said he would continue to follow politics after the election.

“It’s important to follow politics after each election to see what policies the candidates actually enact and how it could affect the lives of you and people around you,” Alexander said.

Similarly, Anthony Hollo, a first-year engineering student, followed the election by researching the candidates and following the results. Yet, he said he would not be as involved in politics after the election.

“I’m not that into politics,” Hollo said. “When it’s an election, I start to get into it. Afterwards, I’m like, ‘Stay away from me.’”