Students aid Garamendi election campaign
By Zach Hertz,
Bluedevilhub.com Staff–
Students from DHS and Da Vinci Charter Academy gathered at Congressman John Garamendi’s campaign headquarters on June 3. The students worked with campaign interns to garner votes for Garamendi in the Congressional election for California’s third district.
Democrat Garamendi won the primary election unopposed, 54% to 46%. He will go on to run against Republican Dan Logue in the fall.
Garamendi describes his campaign as one closely tied to the community. In an address he gave at the headquarters, he thanked the “young people, old people- all of them dialing phones. All these years [the campaign] has been grassroots.”
He also added that the volunteers were vital to enacting change. “[Progress] doesn’t just happen. It happens when people are dedicated to a campaign,” Garamendi said.
And the “people dialing phones” put forth a giant effort. On June 3 alone, the campaign made 18,000 calls. Over the course of the campaign, 151,000 calls were placed.
The DHS students mostly helped the campaign through the Student Leader program, in which students worked hours in the three weeks prior to the election and placed hundreds of phone calls.
However, some students also volunteered outside the Student Leader program. Sophomore Gabriel Reynolds volunteered because he enjoyed the prospect of getting experience in the political world.
“It turned out to be really fun and inspiring,” Reynolds said, adding that he was glad to do something that would make a difference.
Garamendi expressed gratitude towards the students and thanked them for their “involvement in the civic life of our country.”
He stressed that the second half of the campaign has just started.
Garamendi thanked everyone at the office, and said that the most important part of the election was voter turnout.
“To those who voted for me and to those who volunteered in my campaign, thank you so much,” Garamendi said.
“To those who voted for another candidate, thank you for participating in our democracy and please keep an open mind and open ear in the months ahead. To those who didn’t vote at all, let’s talk.”
