Several dozen GW students took a 10-hour bus trip Friday to Louisville, Ky. to canvass for Senate-hopeful and Democrat Alison Grimes, who is attempting to unseat Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on the Nov. 4 election.
Since the Kentucky race is one of the tightest in the upcoming election, many members of the GW Democrats came out in support of Grimes and her policies. Many of the students on the trip felt passionate about Grimes’ efforts to make higher education more affordable.
After arriving in Louisville at around 7 p.m., the students settled in a labor hall where they slept for two nights on the basketball court floor.
Sophomore Jacob Burman enjoyed the bonding aspect of the trip saying, “It was great to get to bond with fellow College Dems members on the long bus ride there and throughout our time in [Kentucky] through everything from many episodes of West Wing to a great group dinner along the Ohio River.”
Students knocked on over 5,000 doors around Louisville with the help of some other university student Democrat groups on Saturday. Other schools included Wabash College and Purdue University.
“It was amazing to not only support one of the most contentious elections this midterm cycle, but to be on the ground in Kentucky! I loved being able to talk to voters about what they care about in the upcoming election and hear their views,” said Burman. He continued to note that he was surprised by Kentuckian’s kindness — “Having never been to Kentucky, it was shocking to see how kind people were, even when they completely disagreed with me or simply didn’t want to talk about politics.”
After returning to the labor hall after a long day of discussing policy, getting barked at by dogs or being flat-out rejected, local field director Kate Cummings visited the students and put Grimes herself on the phone to thank them for their hard work.
“I just want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for being a part of this campaign…This isn’t just about Kentucky. [This race] makes the difference between former Minority Leader McConnell and Majority Leader McConnell,” Grimes said in a video posted to the Democrat’s Facebook page. “You are going to bring this race home for us,” she said. “I thank you for the work you have done today and what you will do tomorrow.”
On Sunday morning former Kentucky politician and Grimes’ father Jerry Lundergan visited the students to thanked them for helping out.
After canvassing for a couple more hours on Sunday, the students got back on the bus and returned to campus around midnight.