College Republicans decide not to endorse any presidential candidate
September 20, 2016
College Republicans will not endorse any candidate for president, the group’s executive board decided Tuesday.
“We decided the best way for us to help facilitate the discussion and to serve our goal of giving the conservative students a voice is to remain neutral as far as endorsing any one particular candidate,” College Republicans president Jack Stucky said.
Stucky, a Weinberg junior, said the group wants to represent the voice of conservative students on campus, and it’s “pretty clear” there is a divide among them as to which candidate is best fit to serve in the White House.
Stucky said he understands the disagreements among conservative students at Northwestern because Donald Trump is not a traditional conservative. Stucky said there is no perfect option for president but that he believes “Donald Trump is the best option as it stands.”
SESP senior Julia Cohen, the group’s vice president, said it is important for College Republicans to reflect its membership, which may change depending on who joins the group this year.
Cohen said she would never support Trump but that it is important for College Republicans to let all its members’ voices be heard.
“If we do change our opinion, and I’m not saying we are … I would hope to see it put to a vote with the entire club, including our freshmen,” Cohen said.
Sammy Cuautle, a Weinberg sophomore and the group’s public relations secretary, said the executive board chose to stand up for conservative ideals instead of “pushing a candidate on people.”
Cuautle said he believes Trump is a better candidate than Hillary Clinton but agrees with the group’s decision to not endorse anyone.
“I felt that we shouldn’t have made an official post condemning him, not just because I support him, but because I think that would hurt us more,” Cuautle said. “At the same time, my opinion isn’t that of the majority, so we shouldn’t have made a post endorsing him either.”
Grant Papastefan, the group’s secretary of events, also said he agrees with the decision but hasn’t decided who to vote for yet. The Bienen sophomore, a former Daily columnist, added he will not vote for Clinton.
“It’s just important to note that even though we have people on exec board that support Trump and people that don’t … our decision tonight was unanimous to neither endorse him nor condemn him,” Papastefan said.
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @_allysonchiu
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @peterkotecki