New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (pictured above) marched in the West Indies Parade. Cuomo won the Democratic primary on Thursday Sept. 13 against progressive candidate Cynthia Nixon. Campus voter groups have begun working to increase number of students registered to vote in midterms (Courtesy of Creative commons).
New York Democrats voted during primary elections on Thursday Sept. 13 to make New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo their official candidate for governor, which has produced varied reactions on-campus.
Cuomo, a twice-elected candidate, faced a challenger from the left in Cynthia Nixon, a former actress turned activist.
While Cuomo won by around 30 points, Nixon’s presence and success prior to election day comes in the wake of a wave of progressivism, according to Politico.
Nixon aiming to capitalize on this progressive surge in the hopes of an upset victory over Cuomo, according to Vox.
Many would argue that the party needs to lean more to the left in order to motivate voters who have never voted before.
Others within the party disagree, however, saying that the Democrats need to stick with candidates like Cuomo to appeal to the most voters they can.
Political science professor Joshua Reichardt believes Cuomo will win out in November due to New York’s common tendency toward the Democratic Party. “New York State is solidly Democrat and I don’t think Cuomo will lose the gubernatorial election,” Reichardt said. “Given how the progressive split and polarization within the party has happened, he might not be viable as a presidential candidate depending on who he runs against.”
Geneseo adjunct lecturer of political science Govinda Bhattarai says that the party should stay somewhat centrist to appeal to independent voters.
“The Democratic Party might take advantage of the movement against Donald Trump right now, but if they go too much toward the left, they may hurt their chances in 2020 elections,” Bhattarai said.
Andrew Goodman Foundation Vote Everywhere Ambassadors senior Patrick Buckley and senior Leah Christman are involved in a campaign that aims to increase student voters, especially for the 2018 midterm elections.
“We have a really extensive plan [to turn out students] this year compared to years in the past,” Buckley said.
The plan has increased activities encouraging voter registration around the college, from tabling in the union to giving out voter registration forms and other events across campus, according to Buckley.
“There should pretty much be no possible way someone could be walking and not hear about it,” Christman said.
Buckley would like to see voter turnout at Geneseo exceed the national average voting rate and increase student voters in academic departments where students tend to not vote as frequently.
“I’d like to see certain majors increase their turnout rates,” Buckley said. “We have some data on business and biology majors. I’m a biochemist myself so I feel like I have some right to say this, but it’s a little disappointing that their turnout rates are way below not only the national average, but the average of other Geneseo students .”
74 students voted during the primaries on Thursday Sept. 13 for the on-campus polling site located at Kuhl Gym, according to Interim Director of Leadership and Service Nicholas Palumbo.
It’s important for students to be involved in the voting process for midterms, especially for this election season, Christman said.
“It should also be interesting because in the local congressional election, Chris Collins is going to remain on the ballot despite [his arrest by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in August],” Christman said. “I think that should interest students because it is directly affecting Livingston County and affecting things going on here.”
News editor Zainab Tahir contributed reporting to this article.