On November 11, 2019, at 8:07 PM PST, the government released the U.S. House district 10 results. It was a battle fought between Jeff Denham and Josh Harder. In the end, Harder won by 1.8%. Denham received 49.1% of votes (87,128 votes) and Harder won 50.9% of votes (90,491 votes). It was a very close call, but Harder was the overall victor.

While most of us here in Ripon High School aren’t old enough to vote, many students have helped with the election campaign process. They made an impact on Denham and Harder’s campaign. For example, Sydney Vernon, a senior at Ri

pon High, helped with the Josh Harder Campaign.

“I helped the Josh Harder Campaign in many diverse ways from phone calls, to door knocking, to helping organize Josh Harder weekend events,” Sydney Vernon stated.

But she wasn’t the only one. Makeila Hinrichsen, who used to go to Ripon High, helped with the Jeff Denham Campaign. She did many different things and spent a lot of her time to help with the campaign.

“My job asked me to communicate with many different constituents, plan major events, strategizing and delegating tasks amongst my incredible team,” Makeila Hinrichsen stated. “I had to learn to be able to handle press questions and the press itself in a professional manner, and work alongside many other campaigns in the process.”

All of the people who have helped with the campaigns, whether it was the Harder or the Denham campaign, realised a lot about themselves and developed new skills that would help them in the future.

“It completely changed my life. I cannot even recognize the person I was before the campaign. I originally thought I would settle into a career that I only partially enjoyed but at the end of the day paid the bills. I was going to school to be a nurse, because I wanted to help people this time last year. Now? I will be moving my life to the District of Columbia before the end of next year, working with some of the people I love most,” Makeila Hinrichsen said.

All these people make an effort on the campaign, but not everyone votes. Voting is a very important part in the government. It is the time when normal people get a chance to have a say in the government. Many people, not just here, but around the world, don’t vote, yet are upset by the way things turn out. That is something that needs to change. That one vote you put in could be the difference between someone winning and losing.