Jordan Morris walks through the shaded outdoor apartment complex at Gregory Towers in Champaign. As he approaches the first door with a medium-sized metal number posted on its front, he raises a closed fist and knocks lightly three times. Within seconds, a man opens the door. Morris quickly identifies himself as a volunteer with 13th District Congressional candidate David Gill’s campaign. He then looks down to his list of registered voters and asks for one of the residents by name. The man who opened door yells for his roommate to come to the door and invites Morris to come inside while he waits. After about a couple minutes, the roommate arrives and Jordan is able to give him what he calls “his spiel.”

“My name is Jordan,” he says. “And I’m with the Democratic state party of Illinois…”

This is a typical weeknight for Morris, a senior in LAS, one of many student canvassers for the 13th Congressional District candidates. He spends most of his evenings just like this, going door to door, following his script and talking to registered voters. Some nights, he makes calls from phone banks.

“I fight to implore and urge people to get out there and vote and to get informed,” Morris said. “And to make sure whichever candidate they’re voting for will have the same interests as them.”

As the election nears, canvassers for both parties picked up their efforts in persuading others to vote. Both campaigns for Congress in the 13th District relied on student volunteers in campus towns like Champaign.

Meagan Salisbury is a volunteer coordinator for the Gill campaign and oversees student volunteers in Bloomington.

“We really appreciate our student interns and volunteers because they are reliable, hardworking and always find ways to go above and beyond to help out,” Salisbury said in an email. “This process is mutually beneficial because students helping out with campaigns learn valuable skills that translate to other internships and future careers.” 

Morris and volunteers like him are often met with different reactions.

“Sometimes you get doors slammed in your face or you get the phone hung up on you,” he said. “But that’s alright because you have people on the other end of the spectrum who are very receptive, and you feel you have convinced them to vote for your candidate or just to vote in general, which makes you feel good.”

The Illini Republicans have also been working hard in support of the Rodney Davis campaign, making calls out of the Champaign Victory Center and going door to door.

Despina Batson, president of Illini Republicans and senior in LAS, has been working for the campaign. Batson said the Congressional race is very important this year and gives University students the chance to get involved in this election.

“This is one of the most highly contested districts in the entire United States; everybody is zoning in on it,” Morris said. “That’s why you’ve seen millions of dollars in advertisements. I think it’s important that everybody has the chance to vote, and everybody understands that voting is democracy in action.”

Garrett can be reached at [email protected].