By Lexie Schapitl and Grace Toohey
Across the campus, sidewalk chalkings proclaim “Trump 2016,” stickers state “Ready for Hillary” and T-shirts read “Feel the Bern” as University of Maryland students from across the political spectrum prepare for Tuesday’s primary ballot battle.
Though New York’s primary this week marked another success for front-runners Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, their challengers — Bernie Sanders, Ted Cruz and John Kasich — will have the chance Tuesday to pick up delegates from Maryland, along with Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Delaware and Rhode Island.
Students registered with a party in this state can vote in the state’s primary in Stamp Student Union if they are registered from their local address with a zip code on the campus. Local off-campus residents can vote in Ritchie Coliseum.
“Students need to get involved in the political process; they need to get out and vote,” said Terps for Bernie President Christopher Walkup. “That’s ultimately what we’re trying to do … to inspire people to make the change they want to see.”
Students encouraged peers to register to vote leading up to the state primary through the Student Government Association’s Terps Vote Coalition and MaryPIRG’s New Voters Project. In total, the two initiatives accrued about 2,000 new student-voter registrations, said Andrea Holtermann, a junior government and politics major who serves as campaign director of Terps Vote and campaign coordinator for the New Voters Project.
Though this state’s primary typically falls too late in the election season to have a large impact, this year the front-runners have not yet clinched the nomination, said Michael Hanmer, government and politics professor and research director of the Center for American Politics and Citizenship.
A recent Washington Post-University of Maryland poll found that among likely Democratic voters, 55 percent of Marylanders are likely to support Clinton and 40 percent to support Sanders — giving Clinton a predicted 15-point lead. Among Republicans, Trump holds a 10-point lead over Kasich and an almost 20-point lead over Cruz, according to the poll.
This state’s proximity to Washington — where Clinton worked as a senator representing New York and as Secretary of State — and relatively large, politically active black population likely help to explain her popularity in the state, Hanmer said.
Though Sanders can thank large numbers of college student supporters for success, Terps for Hillary co-president Allyson Winburn said the group shows that not all students are behind him.
“She’s the most experienced candidate by far in the field, and that is most compelling to me,” the senior government and politics major said.
Trump’s high polling among this state’s Republicans could be due to a frustration with federal politics — a trend that has been seen nationwide, Hanmer said.
“With so much of our population in the D.C. media market, I think people are well aware of some of the problems that have been occurring in terms of national legislative politics … things like the shutdown and just general lack of productivity,” he said.
Walkup credits both Trump’s and Sanders’ success this election cycle to being political outsiders, capitalizing on Americans’ frustrations with the current system.
“We have Bernie Sanders on our side and [Republicans] have Donald Trump on their side,” said Walkup, a senior government and politics and theatre major. “That surge of populism across the country that is providing some light at the end of the tunnel.”
Many of the campus Terps for Trump members support the candidate on immigration, trade reform and national security policies, said organization President Matt Morris, but many are also excited that he is almost entirely financially independent. Trump, like Sanders, has not used financial support from super PACs and has steered away from large donors.
“A lot of people are concerned about a leader who is for the people, someone who isn’t owned by big corporations or backed by lobbyists,” said Morris, a sophomore chemical engineering major. “It’s really a political awakening in the U.S., so many people are acting in politics.”
Despite Trump’s place in the polls, Hanmer suggested Kasich might appeal to state voters who supported Gov. Larry Hogan in his 2014 gubernatorial victory. Hogan’s high approval rating, even among state Democrats, suggests that this state’s residents appreciate people who can get things done, he said.
Kasich “presents himself as someone who … will compromise to get things done because he’s more concerned about solving a problem than worrying about partisan politics,” Hanmer said.
Kasich has won the personal support of senior Skyler Golt, president of UMD College Republicans, but the organization won’t endorse a candidate ahead of the state primary, he said. UMD College Democrats will also wait to endorse a candidate until after the primary season.
“[Kasich] seems like somebody who could bring both parties together,” said Golt, an environmental science and policy major. “At this moment, when we’re so divided, he seems like the best choice.”
The presidents of UMD College Democrats and Progressive College Republicans Club agreed that two of the most important issues for college students in this election are college affordability and climate change.
“Every time you watch a presidential debate on TV, you know, the Democrats talk about making college more affordable and the Republicans don’t. To me, that really speaks volumes about which party is going to best represent people our age,” said UMD College Democrats President Jake Polce, a sophomore government and politics major.
Sanders’ concern with “fairness” in the financial sector and education, as well as his platform of political revolution, resonates with many college students, Hanmer said.
“He presents the opportunity for large-scale change, which I think is exciting to a lot of young people,” he said. “Certainly more exciting than, ‘We’re going to continue along the same path.'”
The excitement leading up to next week’s voting hasn’t reached everyone on the campus, though. Freshman public health science major Ashley Ellis, who plans to vote in the November general election, said she hasn’t closely followed the primaries and was “not really that into it.”
“I just don’t really have time for it,” Ellis said. “I just see funny things on Twitter about it.”
Junior biology major Daniel Gorelik similarly plans to vote in the general election — he’s registered in the state without a party affiliation, so can’t take part in primary voting — but remains unexcited about the options.
“I’m going to vote for the person who I hate the least,” Gorelik said. “I don’t like Trump because he’s too extreme on one side, I don’t like Sanders because he’s too extreme on the other side and I don’t like Hillary Clinton.”
This Tuesday’s surge of Northeast primaries could heavily impact the candidates’ pursuit of the party nomination, and university students could play a large role in that process, Holtermann said.
“Students have a wide range of issues that they care about, and those vary across the spectrum,” she said. “We’re part of the largest voting bloc in the country, so no matter what you care about as a student … it really won’t matter until you actually get out there and exercise your right to vote.”
