WGLT hosts Candidate Open House

NORMAL, Ill. – WGLT hosted an open house for local voters and political candidates on Wednesday, Oct 2.

The event was in the Brown Ballroom of the Bone Student Center, and in addition to the candidates, it also featured the NAACP, the League of Women Voters, ISU’s Center for Civic Engagement and the Student Government Association.

According to Bloomington city council member Cody Hendricks, events like this are important for the public because of how much influence local politics have on the average person.

“Local elections are really where it all happens,” Hendricks said. “It’s important that we pay attention at the federal level, that is a big deal, but at the end of the day […] these are the individuals that really make the decisions that affect us every single day.”

Hendricks attended the event to support his husband, Eric Hanson, who is running for a seat on the McLean County board. Many candidates, including Hendricks, have seen an uptick in local political engagement due to the presidential election.

Erika Larkin is another candidate for the county board and has seen similar engagement. However, she also sees the local affairs being overshadowed a bit by the federal race.

“Everybody is really focused on the presidential election, they kind of forget about the local elections,” Larkin said. “Our big thing right now is trying to get people excited that we have things that can make a direct change in our community, right now, right here.”

According to ISU instructor Jay Ansher, a who attended the open house as a voter, events like this are important to get an accurate picture of local politics.

“A lot of the people in this community are all good people,” Ansher said. “One of the things I’ve taken from speaking to some of them is that it doesn’t matter what party they represent; they are all concerned, caring people that want the best for our community, and that gives me a lot of hope.”