As Georgetown University students continue to vote in a series of off-year elections across the United States, many have underscored the impact of local politics while welcoming national engagement with local and state elections. 

With election day slated for Nov. 4, Georgetown students are voting early, via absentee ballot or in person, for consequential statewide elections in New York, New Jersey, Virginia and California, as well as a slate of local elections across the country. Members of the student body have organized phone-banking and canvassing events surrounding hot-button ballot issues, including the New York City mayoral election and the California Proposition 50 ballot measure.

Shay Pratt (CAS ’26), a student from Fairfax, Va., said she feels the national media has paid more attention to electoral politics than the candidates themselves.

“I feel like I haven’t seen, ‘This is a vote that matters to me because it’s my state senator,’” Pratt told The Hoya. “It’s more like, ‘This is an election that matters because it’s reflective of larger themes in the U.S. political landscape.’”

Katie Rankin (CAS ’28), another Virginia resident and board member of Georgetown University College Republicans (GUCR), said she feels the national economy and increasing political violence are some of the main issues for voters in Virginia, even in statewide and local races. 

“I think it’s definitely the economy and jobs, obviously with a lot of federal workers being laid off and right now furloughed because of the shutdown,” Rankin told The Hoya. “I think that’s definitely taken a focal point in the campaigns. Another one is political violence, especially in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s assassination.” 

“The campaigns had to react to both of those things,” Rankin added. “I think we’re seeing the response to both of those events, and that’s taken the center stage in both races.”

Jordan Smith (SFS ’28), a Democrat from San Diego, Calif., said she expects more local issues in California to influence the elections.

“I would say it’s the cost of living,” Smith told The Hoya. “I think that’s really big, especially in southern California — in the San Diego, L.A. areas. Tied along with that, I think homelessness is a really big issue for a lot of Californians, and that’s a real problem.”

Smith said she hasn’t heard many students discuss California’s election this year, including Prop 50, a statewide ballot measure that would allow the Democratic state legislature to redefine congressional districts in response to a similar change by Texas Republicans.

“My roommate and I are both from California, we’re both very involved in politics, so we’ve been discussing Prop 50 quite a bit,” Smith said. “I’ve been discussing it with a lot of people from California, but I wouldn’t say I’ve heard a ton of buzz outside of that.”

“I don’t know if it depends where you’re from, who’s talking about what, but I’m very surprised how little mobilization there is for these smaller elections,” Smith added. 

If California voters approve Prop 50, the state would utilize new congressional maps drawn by the legislature that are predicted to add five Democratic-leaning districts to the map. California’s Democratic leadership introduced the ballot measure in response to redistricting efforts implemented by Texas Republicans, which created five more Republican-leaning districts on its map. 

Cash Moore (CAS ’28), a Democrat from New York City, said many students have taken an interest in the city’s mayoral election, which has garnered national attention due to Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani’s unprecedented success.

“None of them are from New York, yet they have a lot of strong opinions on this mayoral race, which has been interesting to see,” Moore told The Hoya. “I think it’s rare that a mayoral race transcends into national politics, but this has been a great example. I think one of the reasons for that is obviously that Zohran has caught a lot of attention via social media, via young people.”

“It’s been fun — it feels like my city has been a part of a larger political narrative,” Moore added. 

After Democrats lost the 2024 presidential election, party strategists and political experts have suggested that Mamdani’s success in the mayoral primary may lead the national Democratic party towards progressive populism as a winning strategy. 

The Georgetown University College Democrats (GUCD) organized door-knocking campaigns in Virginia and phonebanking for Democratic candidates across the country.

Braedon Troy (CAS ’27), GUCD campaigning director, said the organization has been working diligently to swing Virginia elections.

“We have been out basically every week, phonebanking and door-knocking for the various elections that are up this year,” Troy told The Hoya. “Because of our proximity to the state, most of the work we’ve been doing has been in Virginia. Those are just little day trips to some of the close state legislature districts in Virginia and knocking for both Abigail Spanberger and the rest of the statewide Democratic slate.”

Troy, citing Virginia State Rep. Michael Feggans’ narrow victory in 2023, said students’ campaigning efforts can make a real difference. 

“The race for Michael Feggans that we just campaigned in last weekend — in 2023, Feggans only won by around 1,100 votes,” Troy said. “We knocked around 1,000 doors just this weekend. This is the state legislature race, and going into some of these competitive districts in the places where we were knocking were some of the most competitive in the state.”

“That can legitimately be the difference maker in those elections, so it’s really important that we have volunteers willing to go out and down there and go talk to people like that,” Troy added.

Rankin said that while Georgetown has a political student culture, there is less conversation about this year’s elections.

“I think the desire to take part in elections is definitely there — we do go to Georgetown,” Rankin said. “I think most people are pretty politically involved, pretty tuned into the issues and they also recognize the importance of voting. I also think that compared to last year, it might not be as much of a focal point.”

Troy said he is glad Georgetown students are engaged in elections and hopes he can continue to work on campaigns.

“We are here and active during every single year, every single semester,” Troy said. “So even after Election Day, I highly recommend people to come and get involved, stay involved.”

“I think Georgetown is just a really cool environment because of how everyone just likes to vote,” Troy added. “That’s really better for democracy, when it’s just a given thing that people do.”