Pimley campaign pays student to help effort
By: Courtney Gross
Princeton Borough mayoral candidate Kim Pimley is courting a constituency that other elected officials have tended to neglect in previous primary elections the Princeton University student body.
Although most students may have already abandoned their dorm rooms and lugged their laptops and Pink Floyd posters off campus, Ms. Pimley is hoping some students will stick around to vote in the June 5 Democratic primary, where she is challenging the borough’s political veteran, Mayor Mildred Trotman.
"I think it is part of a larger outreach to all parts of the community that haven’t had a chance to get involved up to this point," Ms. Pimley said of her student solicitation. "With the students, I see so much potential there. I am comfortable with this age group and all the things they have to offer."
To draw in the collegiate crowd, Ms. Pimley has solicited the service of university freshman Steven Marcus, a politics major who hopes to one day pursue office himself. She has paid Mr. Marcus $15 an hour for campaign research, including the perusal of local newspaper archives and Borough Council meeting minutes. The fee so far, Ms. Pimley added, has been "nominal."
His first encounter with the Pimley campaign was through an e-mail from the university’s College Democrats the sponsor of the only mayoral primary debate thus far but, overall, Mr. Marcus said he was impressed by Ms. Pimley’s attempt to reach out to campus.
"The students’ relation to the borough is apathetic," Mr. Marcus said. "There is not a lot of interaction that occurs unless its Princeton Borough Police on Prospect Street. … It’s apathetic to hostile on one end."
In between the hectic schedule of finals, Mr. Marcus, with several of his classmates, have registered students to vote and are trying to persuade those who have already signed on in the borough to fill out absentee ballots if they are heading home for the summer.
He has even posted a Pimley flyer on the popular student Web site www.facebook.com to attract the students to the primary campaign. The ad reads: "Kim Pimley is a fabulous woman running for Princeton Borough mayor. She is dedicated to the cause and has a lot of great ideas."
Earlier this week, the Kim Pimley for Princeton Borough Mayor facebook page has acquired five members.
Tied up with her mayoral duties, Mayor Trotman said she hasn’t reached out to students at the university, but would certainly not be opposed to the idea.
"I am interested in soliciting votes from anyone who is registered," Mayor Trotman said.
Other Princeton Democrats also see potential in increasing primary turnout by courting the borough’s large student population.
Jenny Crumiller, the president of the Princeton Community Democratic Organization which has endorsed Mayor Trotman’s primary candidacy, said she could not recall if a candidate has ever catered to the university’s student body. But, she added, students certainly have the potential to turn the tide in elections with extremely low turnouts.
"Everyone always says it isn’t worth the effort because they leave and they don’t vote," Ms. Crumiller said. "That’s why this is a good test. I hope they do come out," the PCDO president added.
Unfortunately for the candidates, this year’s primary is scheduled on the same day as the university’s commencement. Beyond that, candidates will also be working with an extremely low student turnout precedent.
The borough clerk’s office does not break down voter turnout by student populations, but voting District 1 contains most of the university’s on-campus undergraduate housing. In the last contested mayoral primary in 2003 that district brought a total of 10 votes out of 1,102 registered voters in the district.
The same district garnered seven votes in last year’s primary election when both mayoral and council candidates ran uncontested.
Mr. Marcus hopes to boost that number to 150.