A familiar sight interrupted an otherwise peaceful stroll down Forbes Avenue on Tuesday. … A familiar sight interrupted an otherwise peaceful stroll down Forbes Avenue on Tuesday. Sporting a red-white-and-mostly-blue sticker, a Pitt student stood on the sidewalk while brandishing a clipboard. ‘Excuse me, sir,’ he said to a passerby, ‘Are you registered to vote?’ ‘Yes, thanks.’ The passerby hesitated to ask the next question. ‘You know the election ended months ago, right?’ It was only then that he noticed the words on the volunteer’s sticker: ‘Patrick Dowd for Mayor.’ ‘Actually,’ the volunteer responded, ‘the election is just beginning.’ After announcing he’ll challenge Mayor Luke Ravenstahl in the May 19 primary election, city council member Patrick Dowd quickly found support from many Pitt students. But Ravenstahl supporters and local Republicans are also gearing up for a competitive campaign. A 59 percent voter turnout in ward 4 ‘mdash; which includes North Oakland, Central Oakland and South Oakland ‘mdash; helped Barack Obama win Pennsylvania in November’s presidential election. Now, the Dowd campaign hopes another strong showing from Oakland will help him oust the incumbent. ‘It’s kind of a continuation of the energy from last semester,’ said College Democrats president Ian Lauer. ‘It’s a lot of the same people, it’s a lot of the same energy.’ While the Democratic student organization, with 1,000 registered members, will not endorse a candidate until after the primary election, many students are taking it upon themselves to get active earlier in the process. Dowd has met with various students groups both in Oakland and across Pittsburgh, said campaign field director Troy Stevenson. But Dowd isn’t the only mayoral candidate gaining student support. ‘At this very moment we have 14 student interns in our office,’ said Ravenstahl campaign manager Paul McKrell. ‘We have seen an incredible influx of student volunteers.’ Stevenson did not have data available on the number of students volunteering for Dowd. McKrell said that his campaign’s strategy for the primary election is to reach out to students not necessarily for their votes ‘mdash; as many of them will be out of town for summer vacation ‘mdash; but for the same manpower they displayed during the presidential campaign. ‘Without the students, we can’t effectively get our message out to the greater city. Students provide an abundant supply of workforce for our campaign,’ said McKrell. Lauer said that his group is working on an absentee ballot campaign for vacationing students registered to vote in Oakland. During the special election on Nov. 6, 2007, Ravenstahl was elected with a 29 percent voter turnout. ‘If everyone on campus was registered to vote and voted here, we could swing any city council race that goes down in our district and we can definitely sway a mayoral election,” said Lauer. According to the 2000 Census, Oakland is home to 26,469 residents of voting age, more than enough votes to swing the primary election, said Lauer. Since 2000, Pitt has increased the size of its student body by about 18 percent ‘mdash; the total is up to 17,427 ‘mdash; dropping the average age of an Oakland resident to younger than 22 years old. Though many of these students registered to vote in their hometowns, they still have time to make a difference in the Pittsburgh political scene. Pennsylvania law says that residents have until 30 days before election day to register to vote or change their voting districts. College Republicans president Zach Bombatch believes that Pitt students could have a great impact on the election. ‘Whoever can reach the youth in Oakland will do very well, so the goal of the mayor should be to make the city attractive to young people,’ he said. Bombatch said that Pitt’s College Republicans will bring the Republican party’s candidate, once it selects one, to campus to increase his exposure around Pitt. ‘They’ve got the national numbers and various spots in the commonwealth, so I think we’ll be the more aggressive party this term,’ he said. Bombatch said that despite their party’s disadvantage in a municipality like Pittsburgh, they’re preparing to rally Oakland’s younger members to combat both Dowd and Ravenstahl supporters for the general election. Pittsburgh is a historically Democratic city ‘mdash; residents elected their last Republican mayor, John Herron, in 1933. ‘Its certainly an uphill battle, but we’re optimistic that we can at least make a dent down here in Pittsburgh,’ said Bombatch. ‘If anything, we’d like to get a much larger size of the vote in the past.’