Story by Abigail Vickers
Photos by Lindsey McIntosh and Emilee Arnold
Design by Hanna Kronfeld
Editor’s Note: This article was originally released in Issue 17 of the WKU Talisman print magazine. Click here to read more articles from the Talisman’s semesterly print.
On an early Saturday morning in September, campaign volunteer Laura Harper Knight suited up in her raincoat to begin canvassing for Bowling Green mayoral candidate Patti Minter. Determined and hopeful to increase voter turnout and gain support in the upcoming election, she started knocking on doors.
Political campaign volunteers are “the backbone of civic engagement and community involvement,” according to a Good Party article about volunteerism in politics. The article states that volunteers provide support for their prospective candidates through canvassing, phone banking, fundraising, social media support and voter registration aid.
Knight, a 2015 WKU alumna, said she started getting involved in political campaigns after a fire in her apartment building when she didn’t hear a fire alarm. If a fire marshal hadn’t knocked on the door and warned Knight and her roommates, they would not have known that they were in danger.
Knight felt her landlord didn’t properly maintain safety equipment.
“I signed a one-page long lease that said pretty much nothing about anything and (I) did not know that your lease is the law,” Knight said. “That experience helped me realize there’s no accountability for landlords in this community for putting lives at risk.”
Knight said that this event was life-changing and impacted her personally, giving her the motivation to start working toward the changes she wanted to see in Bowling Green. Before meeting Minter, Knight got involved in an issue campaign pushing for more fair housing rights and responsibilities for the city.
She discovered Minter’s campaign for Kentucky State Representative in 2018. Minter has been pushing for a fairness bill, which aligns with Knight’s ideals on fair housing.
“When I saw Patti doing really strong advocacy for fairness, that really soothed me,” Knight said.
Knight has campaigned for Minter for roughly six years now. Minter was elected twice as the District 20 State Representative in the Kentucky House of Representatives in 2018 and 2020, but lost her re-election bid to Republican Kevin Jackson in 2022.
Knight said that when she thinks about the legacy of political volunteerism, specifically in a college context, it reminds her of past leaders of the Civil Rights Movement and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.
“It’s all about the issues,” Knight said. “I think about this huge legacy that we’re a part of and that we’re walking through. I think it is part of a long history, and it brings me a lot of pride to be able to continue and be a part of that legacy too.”
Knight added that the nature of political work is “very much long-term” and that sometimes campaign volunteers may not “see and reap the benefits of the change” that they’re making, even in their lifetime.
“I think the legacy is still in the making,” Knight said. “I hope that there continues to be a strong legacy of political organizing, especially in college campuses, which is, like I said, such an important part of where it comes from.”
Several citizens in Bowling Green have taken part in supporting candidates they believe align with their morals and goals in the upcoming election. Despite their party affiliation, these citizens contribute to campaigns in their own ways.
Bobette Franklin, a 1992 WKU alumna, volunteered at the Warren County GOP Headquarters this year with Phyllis Causey, a 1972 WKU alumna. The two retired friends collected donations from community members and gave out signs, buttons and other merchandise for Republican candidates on local and national levels.
This is Causey’s fourth time volunteering for the Republican office in Bowling Green, but she has been volunteering in Warren County since 1980. She described her years of participation in political volunteerism as very rewarding.
Franklin said she volunteered for the GOP Headquarters to be an active citizen in Bowling Green through supporting candidates whose values she aligns with.
“I believe it’s important to be an informed and active citizen in the community, so that’s why I’m here,” Franklin said. “I’m volunteering here because I want to support the values that the candidates are presenting and the platforms they’re standing on.”
Franklin said that campaign volunteering gets people connected with their community. She explained how candidates need the grassroots to get elected.
“Regardless of which side of the party lines you’re on, whether you’re a Republican or Democrat, it’s the same,” Franklin said. “They need the support of the people in the community.”
Barbara Pollock, a 2008 WKU alumna, has been campaigning for Minter since she first ran for state representative in 2018 up to now in her mayoral campaign this year. She contributed to Minter’s campaign through phone banking, canvassing and delivering signs.
Pollock said that campaign volunteering is a good experience overall for connecting to others and finding out what people want to see and change in the community. She said that campaign volunteering could also help shy people speak up and reach out about those who represent their beliefs.
Parker Stallings, Butler County sophomore at WKU, recently completed an internship for Patti Minter’s campaign. He said he served as the youngest Kentucky delegate at the 2024 Democratic National Convention (DNC).
During the convention, Vice President Kamala Harris was formally nominated as the Democratic presidential candidate with Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate. Former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, former First Lady Michelle Obama, and Nancy Pelosi were a few of many guests to speak at the convention.
Stallings said that his role in various campaigns and political work led to several opportunities for him in the political world.
“I think actually stepping up and trying, even though I didn’t expect to be able to do it, really showed me that it is not as closed off as you think,” Stallings said. “A lot of it is just actually putting your foot forward and taking the steps you need to take or that you want to take and trying these things because it actually is really open to the younger generation.”
Stallings said that he chose to get involved in politics because he wanted to show younger students that no matter how old someone is or where they come from, anyone can be in the position he is. That is the legacy he wants his political involvement and campaign volunteerism to leave behind.
Stallings said he started volunteering as a poll worker for elections and eventually got a position as county party chair for the Butler County Democrats. Stallings said his county didn’t have a Democratic Party until this year, so they nominated him as the Democratic Party chairperson.
Stallings said he would preside over quarterly meetings in this role. The position as county party chair was the main reason he was chosen as a Kentucky delegate for the Democratic National Convention.
“We didn’t have a Democratic Party in my county until this year,” Stallings said. “So when we restarted the party, they wanted someone young and someone they knew would take action, so they nominated me as party chair. Then from that, I went and got the delegate opportunity.”
Stallings said Minter reached out to him as his county’s Democratic Party chair, and then again when they learned he was a Kentucky delegate. Minter offered Stallings an internship for her mayoral campaign, and he accepted.
Stallings supported Minter through canvassing, phone banking and helping with significant fundraisers. On the last day of his internship with her campaign, Stallings got to shake hands with Governor Andy Beshear, who endorsed Minter at one of her events.
“I was hoping to get a picture with him, but he’s a very popular man, and I had to run the donations table,” Stallings said. “I shook his hand again. It was really crazy because the last time I saw him was in Chicago for the Democratic National Convention. So it was kind of crazy, for a Kentucky governor, to see him on stage in Chicago and then come back home and he’s at a campaign for mayor.”
Stallings explained how each of these opportunities accumulated over time, leading to more opportunities for political engagement. He described this as a snowball effect.
Stallings said he also received many opportunities through the Office of Scholar Development at WKU, including when he attended the student conference on U.S. affairs.
“It’s just really putting yourself out there,” Stallings said. “We’re too young to run, but that doesn’t mean we’re too young to campaign for people that we want to see make a change and people we agree with.”