RCC Brings Out Young Voters For College Night
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By Katie Larkin
Last Friday August 2, Assembly candidate Tom Sullivan hosted “Back to College Night” at Callie’s on Beach 129th Street, geared towards student voters, some registering to vote for the first time. Joined by Paul King and Rockaway Republican Club (RRC) president Mary Glynn, the event was designed to be a fun, yet educational, atmosphere without the fiery, and often divisive, political speeches. In an effort to ramp up voter turnout, members of the RRC took to teaching these young voters, no matter their political affiliation, how the absentee ballot process works and gave them new tools to make their voices heard even with their busy college schedules. As some students often leave home for college in August, they are not able to get to their local polling places during election season, but they can vote through absentee ballots.
“Absentee voting is very important. It always has been. There are many reasons why people cannot physically get out to vote, one of those is college. The effort here today was to engage with these kids who will not be here but are interested in taking part in the elections,” replied Tom Sullivan when asked about the role of absentee ballots in the upcoming election. “They are in college right now, most of their life is programmed out. In a few years, they will be out with a hard-earned degree looking for an apartment, a job. Then they’ll say, ‘where can I find a job?’ Or ‘why are the apartments so expensive?’ They start to realize what life is outside of college and these issues then become really important to them. They then realize elections matter.”
Attendees were encouraged to wear their college gear and were able to enjoy food, soda and Gatorade for just $2. Anthem provided music for the event.
As an RRC event, various students expressed strong support for the Republican cause during the course of the night, many of them citing issues with the current positions of the Democratic Party and the instability in the economy. “We want to vote for Republicans. From what the other position has portrayed, it’s not worth voting for them. It’s more centered on people, on what we want,” student Christopher Niewynski said. “The reason I chose a community college is because of the cost-effectiveness of it. It’s the only reasonable option for a higher education at this point.”
Shelby Tomas, an 18-year-old future Baruch College attendee, explained, “Inflation was a lot lower when Trump was president. If you look at the statistics, it’s not really a debate. When Biden took over the economy, inflation increased right away.” Quandale Dingle, another student at the event, noted, “Gas has been absolutely insane! When I first started driving it was $1.50-$2.00 a gallon. Now it’s $4 a gallon, making it almost $60 total to fill up my car.”
The views expressed by many of these first-time voters gave members of the RRC hope for the future of America. Members were impressed at the level of dedication to the pursuit of information ahead of Election Day, as historically, young adults vote at lower rates than older generations. Others were surprised that such a young group of kids came out in such strong support for Republican values, as typically younger voters trend more liberal in their beliefs. Tom Sullivan and the RRC considered “Back to College Night” a success for the first event of its kind in Belle Harbor.
