Two Muncie City Council candidates said Muncie needs a younger generation's perspective and both want the opportunity to provide it.
The candidates are in their mid 20s. Their parties, backgrounds and genders differ. All they have in common is that they graduated from Ball State and have strong ties to Muncie.
Tommy Rector, a former Student Government Association president and 2002 Ball State graduate, entered the race in May as a Republican. Since then, his name and face have been plastered all over Muncie on signs and billboards.
Alison Quirk, a 1997 Ball State graduate, has put her name on signs around Muncie touting her Democratic candidacy.
They are two of six candidates running in a three-seat race in the Nov. 4 election. Since they began, they have less time to work, less time to finish homework and less time to spend with friends and family.
But members of each of their parties agree: having them in the race is a positive change for Muncie politics.
YOUNG MINDS, NEW PERSPECTIVES
"It is uncommon for people in their 20s and early 30s to run for public positions in Delaware County," Dan Taylor, executive director of the Democratic party of Delaware County, said.
Taylor said the youngest person he ever saw take an interest in running was 24 or 25.
Quirk, Rector and their supporters agree that their ages put them at an advantage over older candidates.
"It's not normal. However, it is certainly refreshing," Tom Bennington, secretary of the Delaware County Republican Party, said.
Taylor said the Democrats are also pleased that a younger candidate is running.
"We're real excited to see someone young step up and get involved," Taylor said.
Rector said he was told his age would help him in the race.
"I've heard people say they think it is time for a new perspective and new ideas," Rector said. "This is a good opportunity for someone from my generation to get involved."
Quirk said she also heard Muncie was ready for young candidates.
"I hear a lot of people in community ready for new faces and new energy," Quirk said. "I thought this was an opportunity to step up."
Quirk said she sees most of the other candidates as more business-focused in their experience. She said she is different because her perspective comes from working for the not-for-profit agency A Better Way.
Quirk is also the only candidate that is a graduate student at Ball State and a woman.
She said she is not surprised that she is the only woman running for a City Council seat, but she feels honored by the opportunity.
WHAT'S IN A NAME?
As Rector and Quirk meet Muncie residents, some cannot help but draw a connection with the candidates' last names.
Rector's father, a local dentist, owns a practice on McGalliard Road.
"Some people thought my dad was running for city council," Rector said.
Rector said this reaction is common and name recognition plays a role in his campaign.
"People will say, 'Your dad is a good guy. I'm going to vote for you,'" he said.
Govaert said the association is unavoidable.
"In any political game, if you have someone who came before you, you automatically have that in, that name recognition," Govaert said.
Alison Quirk uses her maiden name at Ball State because she registered with the school under her maiden name, but her married name is putting her in a similar situation to Rector.
"Her father in law is a very well-known attorney in Muncie," Taylor said. "Quirk is a respected name, the same with Rector."
"John grew up here," Alison Quirk said. "His family has been here for a long time."
John Quirk said he is unsure if the association is beneficial to his wife's campaign.
"I think that it helps her, but there's no guarantee," Quirk said. "People have different opinions about attorneys."
Representatives from both Republican and Democrat parties said name recognition plays a key role in an election.
"That is the quality of candidates we look for," Taylor said. "They get respect in the community and have a well-known name. Republicans are doing the same thing."
To his knowledge, Taylor said he did not know of a Quirk that has run for an office in Delaware County. Bennington and Rector said they do not believe a Rector has run for a office in Muncie in the recent past.
Though they might be the first in their family to run for office in recent years, each said they are ready to accept the challenge.
Alison Quirk said that while participating in forums, she noticed similarities between her views and those of other candidates.
"We basically all have the same vision and same goals for Muncie," she said. "The difference is the process to achieve the goals."
Alison Quirk said she finds the similarities encouraging.
"It will help us stay focused and provide an atmosphere to make it easier for us to work together," she said.
Rector said he is ready to stand behind his ideas.
"I'm going to be forceful," he said. "I'm going to show that we should do it my way and this is why. That's what we're campaigning on."
MUNCIE CONNECTIONS
Rector has lived in Muncie his entire life.
Alison Quirk's roots are not grounded in Muncie, but she has remained in the city since she completed her undergraduate degree in 1997. She served on boards for organizations like Big Brothers, Big Sisters and as served as a victim advocate for Delaware County.
While working at A Better Way, she is also pursuing her master's degree in social-studies education.
John Quirk said Alison is unique from most Ball State students because she stepped outside the Ball State community while finishing her undergraduate and expanded with her experience in service organizations in Muncie.
Quirk plans to graduate in May 2004 with a master's degree in social-studies secondary education. After graduation, she plans to teach.
"I haven't decided what my plan to teach is going to be," Quirk said. "I want to start a family, so I'm not sure if I want to seek out a full-time teaching position now."
If Quirk does not pursue a full-time position, she said she might seek a part-time position teaching adult education or students who have dropped out of school and want to finish their degrees.
READY TO RUN
Quirk and Rector entered the race at different times. Rector had to survive the primaries, but Quirk entered after they were completed.
Mayor Dan Canan contacted Rector in the spring and asked him to consider running for City Council. Rector said he decided to run and was on the ballot in the May primary election.
Quirk entered the race in late August, replacing Democratic City Council candidate James Dickerson, who died Aug. 9.
"One evening I came home, and my husband had read an article about an opening in the Democratic party and that they were seeking a new candidate," Quirk said.
Quirk's husband asked her what she thought about running.
"At first I thought, 'I can't do this right now,'" she said.
Eventually, though, Quirk said she knew she could run with the help of her friends and family.
Alison Quirk said she is fortunate to have a circle of support, but her most valuable supporter, she said, is her husband. They have been married for about a year, she said.
"Sometimes when I am speaking, I can't look at him," she said. "I see the look on his face, that he is so supportive of me. John and I are doing this together."
She said the encouragement and support of her husband and his family lets her run for City Council, but because she entered the election later than the others, she has to make up a lot of ground.
"I didn't get the opportunity to do all the things the other candidates have done," Alison Quirk said.
John Quirk said his wife's experience in community organizations and caring demeanor convinced him she would be qualified for the Council.
"She is probably the most-caring person I've ever met in my life," John Quirk said. "The Council needs people like that."
GETTING THERE/UNTIL THE POLLS OPEN
Before either of the two can make a difference on the Council, they have to be elected. Four other candidates are contesting for the same three seats.
With fairs, club meetings, events and fund-raising efforts, campaigning can fill up months of free time, and the candidates have altered their lives to accommodate their first political campaigns.
Rector developed his own public-relations and strategies firm, Rector Communication Strategies. He said this position has given him more time for campaigning.
Alison Quirk said her supervisors at A Better Way have accommodated her busy schedule.
"I am fortunate my employer has been flexible," she said. "This is hard for me because I am very loyal to my work."
Candidates running for office limit their free time. While most people in their 20s use their weekends to unwind, Alison Quirk and Rector campaign.
Sometimes, Rector said he is the only Republican at an event, but this has not stopped him from attending.
"There are a lot of events where, if you don't show up, people know," he said. "But if you do show up, no one will notice."
For this reason, he said he attended the Indiana State Fair and the Washington Street Festival.
"You don't expect to win votes at a fair," he said. "You go there to meet people and start a foundation."
For a candidate, visibility plays a major part in the race, but time cannot always accommodate every event.
John Quirk said that when his wife cannot attend events, he tries to attend for her.
Another way to be visible is to go door-to-door campaigning. Alison Quirk said her family will go door to door for her if she has assignments to finish or must be at work.
She said she has done some door-to-door campaigning on the weekends, but she usually devotes weekend time to completing class work.
"I depend on my friends and family to walk during the week," she said.
Rector also uses the door-to-door strategy to keep himself in the voters' minds.
"You can't campaign without really meeting people," he said. "It's about being visible within the community."
During his campaigning, Rector said some people identify themselves as Democrats up front. Rector said he they do this for a reason.
"I think they want me to sell them my ideas, and they really want to know what I am about," he said.
Democrats who are willing to listen encourage him, he said.
"I hear a lot of, 'I'm a Democrat, but we're looking for a change,'" he said.
Aside from campaigning throughout Muncie, Amanda Govaert, Rector's campaign strategist, said he is also hitting a usually untapped resource; students.
In late September, Rector helped run a voter-registration drive on Ball State's campus with the Student Government Association at the Scramble Light. He said in one day, 84 people registered to vote.
"When I spoke to some Ivy Tech classes, they got on me because I did not do a voter-registration drive out there," Rector said. "It never crossed my mind."
Rector said both parties tend to overlook students during campaigns.
"I tell my party to never overlook students' potential as a group," he said.
Bennington said the party does not often focus on student voters because those who do vote usually vote absentee. He said some candidates recruit college voters, but not as thoroughly as Rector has.
Members of his party, however, have questioned his efforts to campaign door to door, Govaert said.
"There were people that said it was a waste of time to go door to door in certain neighborhoods," Govaert said. "We thought it was never a waste of time getting someone to vote."
Bennington said Republican candidates do use door-to-door campaigning as part of their strategy.
"It's common to do door to door," he said. "It's something we encourage candidates to do."
Taylor said Democrats usually do more door-to-door work than Republicans.
"Republicans do more mailings and bill boards," Taylor said. "They outspend Democrats in normal elections."
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