When Anderson resident Peter Lyon first decided to run on the Republican ticket for county commissioner, his biggest concern wasn’t his campaign platform or raising money.
Instead, one of his major apprehensions was his age. Turning 24 at the end of May, Lyon is one of the youngest people ever to run for public office in Madison County. “I’ve always loved politics,” he said. “But at the beginning of my campaign, I was worried that people might think I was too young.”
Lyon isn’t the only one in his age group to take part in the political process this spring. According to a survey conducted by the New Voter’s Project, 21 percent of the electorate is made up of people between the ages of 18-29, and surveys at this year’s primaries have recorded record voter turnout for people in this age bracket.
Anderson University sophomore Rasheeda Shamsid-Deen, who is originally from Hobart, Ind., came out to the polls Tuesday afternoon for the first time. “This is my first time voting,” she said. “I wanted to see what it was like.”
Additionally, like many other young voters, Shamsid-Deen was motivated to go out and vote because of the interest surrounding the Democratic presidential primary. Shamsid-Deen said she attended Michelle Obama’s speech on the university’s campus several weeks ago. “I really liked what she had to say,” she said. “I’ll probably be getting a car this summer, so issues like gas prices really matter to me.”
But Anderson’s young people weren’t only out voting — many of them were also spending time serving as poll workers or campaign volunteers.
Anderson resident Jasmine Watts, 19, served as a poll worker Tuesday, and according to her, participating in politics is something that’s been important to her for almost her entire life. “I’ve worked at the polls since I was 15,” she said. “My grandfather, Merle Jones, has been really involved in local politics and it just seems to run in the family.”
Jill Hartzell, a high school senior from Anderson, volunteered some of her time at New York Sen. Hillary Clinton’s Anderson campaign office Tuesday afternoon. Though she was required to volunteer with a campaign for her government class, she said that she’s seen a lot of young people getting involved with politics this year. “They want to speak up,” she said. “I just turned 18, and this is the first time I’ve gotten to vote. It’s a cool experience to be involved.”
And according to Lyon, though some might have seen him as too young and inexperienced to run for office, it’s younger candidates like himself that encourage young voters to take part in the political process. “Madison County is an aging population, so young blood can be a good thing,” he said. “I saw a lot of young voters at the polls on Tuesday, and they might not have voted if there hadn’t been young candidates like myself to vote for.”
Election 2011
9:15 p.m.: PRIMARY: Election inspires youth
- Election 2011
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Ockomon suing Spencer for alleged defamation
Mayor Kris Ockomon has filed a lawsuit against Teresa Spencer claiming false statements she made that resulted in damage to Ockomon. The suit claims that Spencer “provided false and unprivileged statements to the media and general public, orally and in writing."
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Election results at individual precincts changed a lot from '07
Democratic Mayor Kris Ockomon believes part of the blame for his re-election loss lies with the votes that went to Libertarian Rob Jozwiak instead of him. But Jozwiak disagrees and thinks that if he hadn’t been a candidate, Republican Kevin Smith would have still won.
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Summitville races in question
One of the candidates for Summitville’s clerk/treasurer said she is contemplating her next step is after alleging that she and other Democratic candidates witnessed several voting improprieties during Tuesday’s election.
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Editorial: Voters elect Smith, send message of disenchantment
Each of the three men who ran for mayor of Anderson can continue to play a vital part in the growth of the community. Here’s hoping they foster collaboration, rather than factionalism.
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Kevin Smith back as Anderson mayor
Four years after citizens chose not to re-elect Kevin Smith, they changed their minds. Smith, who was the Republican mayor from 2004 to 2007, was elected on Tuesday to retake office next year.
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Council incumbents re-elected; newcomer joins them
The eight incumbents who sought re-election to Anderson City Council got their wishes Tuesday, which left the Democratic party continuing to hold the majority. The ninth position will have a new face — Democrat Ty Bibbs in an at-large seat.
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Frankton gets new clerk/treasurer
At around 8:30 p.m. Kathy Hudson, Frankton Town Council clerk, had the final tally including the next person that would fill her shoes.
With almost double the votes, the duty went to Democratic candidate Jack Brown. -
Republicans oust Dems in Chesterfield
Republicans ousted two Democratic incumbents in the Chesterfield election Tuesday night. Deborah Dunham will replace Candy Bennett as the clerk/treasurer and Jerry Fields will fill Lynette Carter’s seat on the town council.
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Dockrey upset in Alexandria council race
A second shot at running for office paid off for Dan Stanley. The Democratic at-large candidate led the final election results Tuesday with 32 percent of the vote, landing a spot on Alexandria City Council.
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Arnold overcomes Democratic dominance in Elwood
A five-point plan including the establishment of a development commission proved to be the difference in Republican candidate Ron Arnold’s campaign for Elwood mayor.
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