Believe me when I say I never thought I’d be writing this. For most of my life, the closest I’d been to politics was watching the 2008 presidential election with my 5th grade classmates at Fellows Elementary about five minutes from ISU. As I grew older, I developed the apolitical mindset of “How can my one single vote make any difference?

Little did I know then that Rachel Junck, born and raised here in Ames just like me, would be the political candidate to change that view. I am a senior here at ISU, and whether or not you’re a student, it’s not hard to understand the time-consuming workload and hectic schedules of students.

When Rachel first approached me about supporting her candidacy for Ames City Council, my apolitical history and packed schedule made me hesitant to give my support.

However, as she started to talk more about her platform, something clicked in my head. Rachel told me that there is no student on the Council. She told me about her leadership roles at ISU as well as measurable things she’s done for our community from volunteering to activism. Be it affordable housing, local climate action, or measurable quality of life improvements, I knew each part of her platform was going to have a fighting force behind it.

So I voted. When I heard she won the most votes, but was just 7 votes short of winning outright, every apolitical part of my brain disappeared.

7 votes. 

Now there’s a runoff election on Tuesday, Dec. 3, and unlike before, every single part of me knows that my vote will make a difference.

Go vote. Tell your friends. Your vote will make a difference too.

(rachelforames.com/vote has a map if you don’t know where to vote)