Few students know about down ballot candidates — so here they are

On a campus with such a high level of political activism, you would expect more students to be familiar with candidates other than Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump — but not everyone is.

In an effort to test students’ knowledge about “down-ballot” candidates, or candidates other than Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, we asked 17 students about made-up state senate candidates running for election in the eighth district (which includes University City). This is the off year for the eighth district, so the state senate office will not actually be on the ballot.

10 of the students surveyed said they believed one non-existent candidate was more qualified than another. Another six of the surveyed students responded that they did not know, while only one student pointed out that the candidates and the election did not exist.

College junior and Vice President of Penn Democrats, Luke Hoban, is one of the most politically active students at Penn. Hoban has canvassed for both Clinton, the Democratic Presidential candidate, and Katie McGinty, the Democratic U.S. Senate candidate. When asked about the down-ballot elections during this election cycle, Hoban was able to successfully list off the majority of offices up for election, as well as the two ballot questions on which voters in Pennsylvania will vote tomorrow.

“Make sure to educate yourself on all the races, and not just on President and Senate... Oftentimes, down-ballot elections are more overlooked and a lot closer than the Presidency, and they have a more direct effect on people’s lives,” he said.

Hoban is not the only student on campus with a knowledge of down-ballot candidates. College senior and President of Penn Government and Politics Association, Sarah Simon, is also well-informed. Although she already cast her vote in her home state, Simon was able to name all the ballot positions in Pennsylvania except for Treasurer, Auditor General and State Representative.

“I’ve served as President [of GPA] since 2014... I think I’m reasonably well-informed and politically active,” she said.

These leaders of political groups are well-informed regarding the 2016 election in Pennsylvania, but not every student on campus is equally as informed. The results of the survey of 17 students suggests that many are unfamiliar with what positions are on the ballot, as well as what candidates are running for those positions. In lieu of specific information about the positions and candidates, incumbency and party likely had a large influence on how students responded in the survey.

To avoid any confusion or lack of information on election day, here are the down ballot candidates on the ballot in University City:

U.S. Senator:

Pat Toomey (R, incumbent)

Katy McGinty (D)

Edward Clifford III (Libertarian)

Attorney General:

John Rafferty (R)

Josh Shapiro (D)

Auditor General:

Eugene DePasquale (D, incumbent)

John Brown (R)

John Sweeney (Green)

Roy Minet (Libertarian)

Treasurer:

Otto Voit (R)

Joe Torsella (D)

Kristin Combs (Green)

James Babb (Libertarian)

U.S. Representative:

James A. Jones (R)

Dwight Evans (D)

State Representative:

James Roebuck (D, unopposed)

Finally, here are the two ballot questions, in verbatim:

“Shall the Pennsylvania Constitution be amended to require that justices of the Supreme Court, judges, and magisterial district judges be retired on the last day of the calendar year in which they attain the age of 75?”

“Should the City of Philadelphia borrow ONE HUNDRED EIGHTY FOUR MILLION THREE HUNDRED THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS ($184,303,000.00) to be spent for and toward capital purposes as follows: Transit; Streets and Sanitation; Municipal Buildings; Parks, Recreation and Museums; and Economic and Community Development?”

Here they are in “plain English,” courtesy of Philadelphia Magazine:

“Pennsylvania currently makes judges retire when they turn 70. This ballot question asks whether judges should be required to step down at age 75 instead.”

“The city government wants to borrow $184 million to make capital upgrades to public property, mostly. The breakdown is as follows: $100 million for municipal buildings, $33 million for streets and sanitation, $25.7 million for parks, recreation centers and museums, $19.5 million for economic and community development, and $4.7 million for transit.”