Campaign Trip in Orlando, FLOct. 29 – Nov. 3, 2016

Princeton College Democrats

Joseph Wood ’18 at Señor Frogs

The whole group at International Drive

Day 1: Arriving in Orlando

A group of 12 students from the Princeton College Democrats headed to Orlando, Florida on our fall break to campaign for Hillary Clinton, Patrick Murphy, Stephanie

Murphy, Val Demings, and various other Democratic candidates. We arrived in Orlando on the evening of October 29. Since it was late, we decided to do a bit of

sightseeing on our first night and start canvassing fresh the next morning. As per the recommendations of the two Orlando natives on the trip, we went out to

International Drive, where we had an exciting dinner at Señor Frogs and a nice walk along the drive afterward!

Ready to volunteer with our clipboards! From left to right: (top row) Lydia Wong ’20, Samuel Russel ’18, Sebastian Quiroz ’20, two high school volunteers, Nate Lambert ’20, Samuel Vilchez Santiago ’19, Max Parsons ’20, Agustina de la Fuente ’18, (bottom row) Nadin Mukhtar ’20, Tabitha Belchee ’20, Kate Hegay ’20, and Amma Prempeh ’19.

Day 2: A walk and canvassing

We started the day by walking around the beautiful downtown Orlando. We were lead by Samuel Vilchez Santiago. After a peaceful morning, we headed to the Hillary Clinton headquarters in Orlando, run by members of the Florida Democratic Party.

There, we were trained on how to canvas and how to get out the vote. We were sent to the northwest suburbs of Orlando, which are low- income,‐ high minority areas that tend have oppressed voters. Our goals were to make them aware of mail- in‐ and early

voting and to make sure they got to the polls.

The memorial at Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Florida.

Day 3: More canvassing and Pulse

We started the day at 9am sharp, ready to canvas! This time we headed to the southwest suburbs of Orlando, which included many apartment complexes, with mainly middle class Latino voters. Since quite a few members of our group speak

Spanish, we were able to communicate with many voters that didn’t speak English. After a long day of canvassing, we made a detour on our way home to stop by the Pulse nightclub. The nightclub was the sight of a terrorist attack that injured and

killed many LGBTQ Orlando citizens; it is now a memorial to those that died in the attack.

Members of the group outside the rally, ready to volunteer. From left to right: (top row) Samuel Vilchez Santiago ’19, Lydia Wong ’20, Nate Lambert ’20, TabithaBelshee ’20, Nadin Mukhtar ’20, Amma Prempeh ’19, (bottom row) Max Parsons

’20, and Joseph Wood ’18.

Members of the group holding rally signs in Sanford Civic Center. From left to right: Max Parsons ’20, Agustina de la Fuente ’18, Amma Prempeh ’19, Nate Lambert ’20,Nadin Mukhtar ’20, Joseph Wood ’18, Tabitha Belshee ’20, and Samuel Vilchez Santiago ’19.

Day 4: Hillary Clinton rally

Hillary Clinton herself flew down to Florida while we were there! We were lucky enough to have connections in the Orlando campaign headquarters to be able to volunteer at her rally. The rally was held in the Sanford Civic Center in Seminole County. We were there for a total of almost 7 hours, volunteering, cheering, and listening to speakers. We heard from members of the Sanford community, John

Lewis, Patrick Murphy, Stephanie Murphy, and Hillary Rodham Clinton. Her speech touched on many issues of her campaign, including gun violence and systemic racism; this was particularly special as Trayvon Martin was a member of the

Sanford community.

Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee with members of the Florida Democratic Party and Princeton College Democrats in the Hillary Clinton Orlando headquarters.

Day 5: Even more canvassing

On our last day, we showed up to the Clinton campaign headquarters in Orlando to a wonderful surprise: Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee! She was there to give us a quick pep talk before we went out canvassing. It was truly an honor to meet her, as

well as to work with the members of Florida for Hillary. We had a successful last day canvassing, and ended the trip with a group celebration for the Cubs victory!

The Princeton College Democrats would like to extend many thanks to the Princeton Progressives for fully funding this trip, as well as Samuel

Vilchez Santiago and Sebastian Quiroz for taking care of our

lodging!