One of the best parts about working at Harris is having the opportunity to connect with students who share our own passion for policy. We love to hear what you are reading, how you are spending your time, and which issues excite you. Many of our prospective students have shared with our team the work they have been doing on campaigns, or their interest in running for office, or how interning or working for a particular representative changed their career trajectory.

These are truly the stories we love to hear.

Many of our staff have been involved in the Midterm elections in some way and are out of the office this election day voting or continuing their volunteer work. We thought we’d take an opportunity to share some of their involvement in elections this cycle, as well as information on Illinois races that many folks have been following.

  • We’ve had a staff member, in between travel weeks, spend weekends canvassing at a competitive race in the suburbs of Chicago. Most interesting takeaway? Noticing that as the race got tighter and closer more people came out to canvas each weekend, and that significant enthusiasm was rallied in private Facebook groups. If you’re interested in learning more about some of the competitive races in Illinois take a look at this Daily Herald article on the 6th and 14th Congressional races.
  • The mayor’s race in Chicago took a surprise turn in September when Mayor Rahm Emmanuel announced he wasn’t running for reelection. The election will not happen until February 26th 2019, with a runoff on April 2nd if no candidate receives the majority of the vote. This seems quite likely as there is currently a LONG list of candidates now running for Mayor. Candidates must collect at least 12,500 signatures to be featured on the ballot. We’ve had two staff members who have been spending weekends, and some time on Election Day, collecting signatures for the candidate they feel most excited about.
  • While local races in Illinois have captured the enthusiasm and dedication of some of our team, we’ve had others support national candidates through Chicago area phone banking parties. If you’re interested in Chicago but want to stay involved in a race back home you will have plenty of opportunities to connect with organizations around the city hosting remote events to support candidates in other states.
  • Outside of working with a particular candidate, we also have a staff member volunteering at her church which is near her polling place to assist with the expected crowds that may need help with parking or other logistics that can happen with a large turnout.

We hope you have an opportunity to take time today to follow what is sure to be an interesting night. Our full team will be back in the office tomorrow, back at our inbox and phone lines, but today, we’re taking some time to focus on some of the same issues we know our students are focusing on. 

If you’ve been passionately following the midterms, or are just interested in understanding how this cycle may have been different than others, make sure to register for our post-election event on November 15th, “Millennials and the Midterms: Where are We Now?”