Eamon Kelly, one of Evanston’s five hopefuls for the democratic state representative nomination, spoke Sunday at a Northwestern College Democrats meeting.
“I’m Eamon Kelly, and I’m here to recruit you,” he said, alluding to Harvey Milk.
Kelly spoke to seven students about his campaign and the issues he cares most about, as well as the issues students should care about.
He said Illinois’ Monetary Award Program grants, which have recently been threatened by limited funding, are among his priorities. He also said he wanted to represent the opinions of younger residents on issues pertaining to reproductive rights and gay marriage.
“There are people who represent very progressive districts now who don’t support gay marriage,” Kelly said. “I want to focus on civil rights changes, on getting people of our generation into politics.”
Kelly then opened the floor for students to bring up the topics on their minds as February’s primary approaches.
Ethan Kaplan, a Weinberg sophomore, said he would like to see drug policy reform on the state level and wanted to know the candidate’s stance. Kelly said he wanted to look into the issue further, and gave the students his cell phone number and permission to pester him with follow-up questions over the course of the campaign.
After Kelly spoke, Kaplan said marijuana policy is particularly important to him, since he would be a candidate for medical marijuana were it legal.
“We waste people’s money by throwing people in jail for something that’s not dangerous,” Kaplan said. “Also, I have a mild form of Tourette’s and would be eligible for medical marijuana, which is much better than being addicted to Xanax.”
Though many students tend not to pay attention to local elections, these elections determine the issues that pertain most to students, said Tyler Maclean, College Democrats’ special projects chair.
“It affects them more than they realize,” the Weinberg senior said. “It’s the laws and politics that will affect them more during their time here.”
Kelly discussed his own experiences as a College Democrat during the 2000 election at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
“I was active in College Democrats and we just kept losing,” he said. “Nothing like Bush to motivate you for being a democrat and staying involved.”
Kelly told the group about internships and fellowships his campaign was offering. After the meeting, he said he planned to capture the student’s votes by giving them work to do for his campaign, making them participants rather than just voters.
“Being involved in politics isn’t about just casting a ballot,” he said. “It’s about getting involved in something, coming out and voting, but also helping us raise money, helping us do things.”[email protected]
