by Jared Barton, reporter
OMAHA – Students for Trump and the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO)’s College Republicans took no time at all to get back on their feet amid the COVID-19 outbreak, and its accompanying change of pace. They’re employing new, safer, in-person and digital methods to register new voters and new members to raise awareness for their cause.
“We started hosting webinars, we started doing a lot of things virtually, as a lot of campaigns did.”
Tyler Henningsen, Regional Field Representative for Students for Trump, said while the regulations required some change, they were able to recover quickly, “I believe the Trump campaign did as well, switched in record time over to all-digital events, so we could keep folks engaged from their homes, while keeping everyone safe.”
The UNO College Republicans have also adapted trying to find more ways to recruit via social media now that in-person table events are less populous.
Their blockbuster campaigning, recruiting and fundraising event with local congressman Don Bacon was cancelled due to COVID-19, and the new rules that came with it. Because of this, they lost a fair amount of footing heading into the upcoming semester, presidential election cycle and local campaign cycle. Nevertheless, they got back to work.
Matt Anderson, president of the UNO College Republicans, said that now that door-knocking and meetings were so limited, social media would definitely be a big focus for them, especially with Election Day drawing closer.
“Learning how to do that has been difficult to a certain extent. I’m not a big social media guru, so it’s always been difficult. On-campus recruiting- it’s always been difficult.”
With Election Day this November 3rd, their current focus, aside from social media outreach, is voter registration. According to a study by Tufts University, in the 2018 midterms, 40 percent of a sample group of 10 million college students voted. Henningsen said that’s why they’re pushing social media. “Just hitting the pavement hard and registering more voters, hopefully a million new voters by November 3rd, for the President.”
