My Mentor

My mentor was Chris McCartan who currently serves as the Chairman of the Cabarrus County Republican Party!

Republican Party Mock Primary

As the second part of my final product, I hosted a mock Republican Party primary at my school to see not only if the candidate awareness campaign was successful in informing students about Republican candidates abroad, but also who the students would have elected as their Republican Party officers. The mock primary was held on Thursday, May 1st after school in Norse Cove. Students were able to come and vote on a ballot for their favorite candidates, and anyone was allowed to participate. This also gave students who were unable to vote in the actual primary on May 6th a chance to participate and get their voices heard! My mentor helped me to decide which candidates to put on the ballot, and he also helped me organize my campaign. There were probably around 30 people who were able to vote, and unfortunately there were not more, but I suspect that this is only because a lot of people had no desire to stay after school, which proved to be the only weakness that my primary faced. Other than this, it turned out to be a great success! :]

The results were as follows:

President: John McCain

Senate: Elizabeth Dole

House of Representatives: Robin Hayes

Governor: Bob Orr

Lt. Governor: Robert Pittenger

NC State Supreme Court: Bob Edmonds

Meet the Candidates!

Me and lieutenant gubernatorial candidate Jim Snyder

Me and lieutenant gubernatorial candidate Robert Pittenger

Me and gubernatorial candidate Bill Graham

Me and gubernatorial candidate Bob Orr

Me and Congressman Robin Hayes

Me and gubernatorial candidate Pat McCrory

The Candidate Awareness Campaign

Because so many students, and people in general, are often uneducated about candidates who may be running for local or even state offices, I decided to implement my Candidate Awareness Campaign to hopefully educate others about the people that may be making some very important decisions that will most likely have a huge effect on our local and state communities. My mentor helped me decide which candidates would be best to include in my campaign, and with this information, I was able to create some bright and colorful posters that would attract a lot of attention, while also displaying the appropriate information. I included Republican candidates that were running for the following offices: President, Senate, House of Representatives, Governor (NC), Lt. Governor (NC), and the North Carolina State Supreme Court. It worked out really well because I was acquainted with the majority of these candidates after attending the dinner with my mentor, and I was able to include personal photographs of these candidates throughout my campaign. My campaign also included a couple of news segments that were broadcasted throughout my school on the Viking News Network. On this segment I began advertising for the Mock Primary that I hosted - the latter portion of my product - while also explaining my posters and clearly identifying my campaign to the student population at my school. The campaign was for the most part a success, though not without minor complications like finding posters with unpleasant comments or drawings on them, but that much is to be expected whenever politics are involved.