Ohio Volunteers: Democrats pleased with election results

A Romney supporter debates topics such as inner city education and abortion rates with Democratic students while waiting in line for a Republican rally in West Chester, Ohio.

Cameron Koch

Democrats throughout WKU’s campus celebrated President Barack Obama’s reelection on Tuesday, and nobody was happier than a group of Democratic students who volunteered in the battleground state of Ohio over the weekend.

The students spent their time going door-to-door in Cincinnati within Hamilton County to encourage voter turnout for the president.

Ohio, a swing state worth 18 electoral votes, was deemed a must-win state for both presidential candidates.

Hamilton County, and Ohio as a whole, went to Obama in Tuesday’s election, securing 52 percent of the vote in the county.

Saundra Ardrey, political science department head, led the trip as part of her campaign management course. Ardrey actively campaigned for the Democrats.

Ardrey said the group of Democrats knocked on over 1,200 doors over the course of the weekend, encouraging potential voters to head to the polls on Nov. 6 or vote early if possible.

“We were in a real battleground county, so we felt really good about that,” Ardrey said. “We felt we really were able to make a difference, and that’s what it’s all about.”

Katherine Rogers, a junior from Glasgow, said her volunteer efforts were well worth it.

“I was just so excited that we could be a part of it,” Rogers said. “I feel like I really helped make a difference there, and I’m really glad I could be a part of history.”She said campaigning in the swing state gave her efforts more importance but that she probably would have campaigned anywhere.

“I was willing to help out here in Kentucky, even though it was kind of a lost cause,” Rogers said. “I would have wanted to campaign for Obama anywhere.”

London freshman Zach Miller campaigned in an election for the first time for Obama in the swing state and also voted for the first time.

Miller said he expected an Obama victory but that the size of the victory over Romney surprised him. He said it was a great night for Democrats overall.

“I would love to get back out and do it again,” Miller said. “It was a great experience.

“It feels good to look at Hamilton County and see that maybe what we did mattered.”