MADISON, Wis. — Democrats know that to defeat President Donald Trump they need to do a better job motivating young voters like University of Wisconsin junior David Pelikan, one of about 40 students being trained this week to become organizers for the eventual presidential nominee.
The training is part of a multimillion-dollar Democratic Party effort in eight key states. Pelikan and others are learning how to organize and be ready to start working for the nominee
“If we want to win, we have to boost youth turnout numbers,” said Pelikan, 21, who grew up north of Milwaukee in Cedarburg.
Presidential campaigns are always looking to increase voter turnout among college students. This year, Democrats are banking on their Organizing Corps initiative as a way to have young people trained and ready to start working on the payroll once the primary season is over.
“The work you are doing here in Wisconsin is off the charts important,” Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez told a room on the Madison campus of about 75 students, party activists and others on Thursday. “News flash: It’s going to be close in Wisconsin. That’s a fact, folks.”
In 2016, Trump carried Wisconsin by fewer than 23,000 votes, becoming the first Republican presidential candidate to win the state since 1984.
Democrats established the Organizing Corps program in Wisconsin, Arizona, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Georgia and Florida. Students were trained last week in Arizona. After Wisconsin, similar sessions are being timed for spring break weeks in March in other states. In total, about 1,000 students will go through the program, according to the Democratic Party.
The emphasis is on both battleground states and those farther down the primary calendar where candidates have not been spending much time, said Rachel Haltom-Erwin, one of the creators of the Organizing Corps program.
