Younger voters heading to polls

Published Sunday, February 17, 2008

By Chris Butler

Bridgeport High School student Katie Bradley, 18, will vote for the first time next month and choose the person she wants as the next president, but she's far from deciding on who she likes.

Bradley's vote in the Texas March 4 primary may have more of an impact than she and others her age realize.

While U.S. Sen. John McCain is well on his way to locking up the Republican Party's nomination, campaign staffers for Democrats Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are already flooding Texas with advertisements in their quest for delegates.

Young people traditionally register to vote but often don't turn out to cast their ballots. Information gathered about voters from presidential primaries in other states so far indicates younger voters in Texas will turn out this year, said Matthew Eshbaugh-Soha, a political science professor at UNT.

"On the Democratic side it appears the young people are in favor of Obama. Given the closeness of this race, the contest in Texas might help decide who gets the Democratic nomination," Eshbaugh-Soha said.

Bradley plans to watch more of the presidential debates and research the candidates and their backgrounds, even as she and her classmates debate who would make the best commander-in-chief.

"Politics has never been my cup of tea, but it will be cool to at least have a say," Bradley said, adding most of her friends and classmates feel strongly about either Obama or McCain.

Only one of her friends supports Republican Mike Huckabee.

"I haven't heard of anyone rooting for Hillary (Clinton). I've heard of plenty of people against Hillary though," Bradley said.

She doesn't know who she wants, specifically - but she knows what she wants in a candidate.

"I want someone with good Christian principles and someone who is honest and with a good family life but also someone who can be open-minded," she said, adding she favors a candidate who is against abortion and gay marriage.

Alicia McElroy, 18, another Bridgeport High School senior who recently registered to vote, said a candidate's religious preferences don't matter to her.

McElroy is most concerned about the war in Iraq and the economy.

"A lot of people are voting for Hillary because she's a woman or Obama because he's black, and they're making a mistake. If you vote that way then it means you don't know how they'll lead," McElroy said.

Lanny Noble, elections administrator in Wise County, doesn't have statistics on whether more younger voters are registering, but said there are more voters overall.

"Our office has processed more than 500 applications since January," Noble said.

According to Noble's office, Wise County had 33,501 voters in April 2006. There were 33,848 voters in November of last year. For the March 4 primary, Wise County has 34,283 registered voters.