Elections

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Local, by Kathy Revtyak

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ent candidates vie for campus vote Es, , irticipation

T here had been a sort of unspoken tension in Bloomington for years. Nobody ever said it, but it had always been understood the city and the University were distinct entities. Students were viewed as visitors in town supposedly unmoved and uninterested in local politics. This age-old myth was repudiated in the fall as mayoral and city council members vied for students' votes in the Nov. 7 city elections. With Mayor Tomiela Allison retiring after 13 years of service, many analysts hailed the race as one of the closest attempts in years to shake the traditionally Democratic stronghold. Republicans and Democrats alike viewed the student population as key to winning elections.

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Mott Stone Entertaining questions at a Willkie candidate debate, Republican Brad Wisler and Democrat Pam Service

explain their platform to 6th District residents who inhabit Willkie, Read, Forest and married student housing Residence Halls. Wisler, a junior and member of Sigma Chi, hoped to capitalize on student support.

Despite inclement conditions, Jeff Brantley and junior Jim Holden help junior Brad Wisler distribute platform flyers for both his campaign and that of Republican Mayoral Candidate Kirk White. Wisler lost the Nov. 7

elections despite his efforts.

Matt Stone

Traveling from one campaign engagement to another, senior Dave McNabb, the greek coordinator for Kirk White's mayoral campaign, sorts through some of White's mailings he sent later that day. Propaganda from John Fernandez's Democratic mayoral campaign littered the floor of McNabb's car.

Bottom right: While posting "White for Mayor" propaganda in Teter, senior Dave McNabb talks to a campaign supporter. McNabb spent several nights prior to the Nov. 7 election handing out signs and doorknob hangers in the

residence halls and apartment complexes. Photo by Kevin Stuart. Herald-Times columnist Kurt Van der Dussen explained the possible transition in party support. "The city is by far more demographically Democratic. But with recent annexes on the northern part of the city and tremendous registration drives on the more conservative sides of the campus, the Republicans are trying to fine-tune the status quo. [Mayoral candidate] Kirk White has a 50-50 chance here," he said. Indeed, under White, Republicans concentrated intensely on drawing student support for the party. College Republicans registered nearly 2,000 voters from the campus, passed out flyers supporting White and went door-to-door throughout numerous greek houses and residence halls. White's ties to the University were some of his strongest selling points to students: he graduated from IU in 1984 and served as IUSA student body president that year. Advertising these credentials and his employment with the IU Student Foundation, he claimed to be pro-student and in touch with student interests. "I will make a commitment to student interests. We have 35,000 students in this community whose voices need to be heard," he said at the Oct. 17 mayoral candidate debate. Moreover, the two student candidates who ran for city council positions with White and the Republicans, junior Brad Wisler and senior Jason Banach, attracted student interest. Banach attempted to fill White's empty city council seat, and Wisler opposed incumbent Pam Service in the 6th District, mostly populated by Read, Forest, Phi Gamma Delta and Delta Gamma residents. Senior Lauren Barnett, fourth-year resident of Read, said evidence of the Service-Wisler race was highly visible there. "In all of the time I've lived here, never once have I seen Service or any other local representative. But in the last few weeks, both she and Wisler have knocked at my door as well as representatives of both White and [Democratic Mayoral Candidate] John Fernandez. They're finally realizing continued

Kevin Stuart

Opposite page: Having just heard that Democrat John Fernandez won the mayoral campaign the night of Nov. 7, Republican Jason Banach is consoled by his girlfriend, campaign manager and treasurer, senior Karen Dusza. Banach, a senior, won the city council race in the 2nd

District. Photo by Kevin Stuart.

Amid cheers, graduate student Chaim Julian reacts to John Fernandez's victory in the mayoral race at Democratic Headquarters. As a member of College Democrats, Julian contributed several hours to help the campaign .

how important to the campaign we really are," she said. Democrat Fernandez also invoked images of his ties to the University to garner student interest. A graduate of the School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Fernandez was a senator in IUSA. After serving on city council for four years, he boasted a pro-student platform. He voted in favor of parking for students closer to campus and more stringent tenant-landlord contracts. Although the Democrats did not have any student candidates, Fernandez, like White, drowned the campus in propaganda. As elections drew near, it was obvious that wooing of student interests relied more and more on ties to IU than the candidates' platforms themselves. White and Fernandez, as well as Wisler and Service, all discussed the issues of crime, low cost housing and industrial growth. They spent little time, except for the Oct. 17 candidate debate sponsored by IUSA, articulating how they would deal with issues like parking, low-cost off campus housing and landlord-tenant agreements that directly affected students. Director of IUSA's Legislative Relations Office, graduate student Chad Secrist, said the purpose of the debate was to encourage candidates to articulate the ways in which they would address student concerns. "Students pay taxes and are obliged to abide by city rules. Why should they not give their input into the officials they elect?" he said. Secrist said IUSA had registered 1,175 students to vote and he believed the presence of nearly 300 students at the debate helped convince the candidates of students' seriousness. "One thousand one hundred students voting in

Keith Sullivan

any district will change the way the voting will run. This kind of influence is how we get our local officials to be responsible," he said. Although Fernandez and Service were victorious Election Day, which helped the Democratic party to renew its political hold in the city, Banach won in White's traditionally Republican north-side district. Student turnout did reach a record high, aided by voting sites in Read and at Assembly Hall and by shuttles from both parties whisking students to and from the polls. Wisler was significantly aided by votes in the greek houses, himself a member of Sigma Chi fraternity, but the Republican contingency was not enough to swing the race in his favor. Service easily won District 6. "Obviously, things didn't turn out as well as we wanted them to, but I feel really good in that we accomplished the main goal we set out to achieve—getting students involved in the elections and getting them out to vote," Wisler said after his loss. "Hopefully we have set the ball rolling and we have started a trend that will continue." Wisler's determination, despite the loss, was one of the surest signs that the invisible boundary between the University and city lines had begun to disintegrate. Wisler said he was convinced students would continue to participate and be interested in local politics. Ironically, his loss produced the impetus needed for continued student involvement. "Even though I lost, now the people in office will have to listen they can't ignore the students anymore," he said. "I'm still going to be working towards keeping students involved. The trend will continue."