With two weeks left before election day... candidates for Richmond’s contested 10th district Senate seat Tuesday night. It's a critical seat, but behind every student who follows local elections, there are a couple more who don't.
The auditorium was almost full with students who clearly care about politics.
In the running: Democrat Dan Gecker, Republican Glen Sturtevant, Marleen Durfee, an independent and Carl Loser, a libertarian.
"These are the people who determine are laws, determine how high our college tuition is and things like that."
VCU Sophomore Laura Bryant is registered and ready to vote. And with a close margin between democrats and republicans in the state senate, she knows what's at stake…
Republicans have a 21-19 advantage in the State Senate,but democrats can take control by gaining one seat, thanks to the tiebreaker status of Democrat Lieutenant Governor Ralph Northam.
"Who wins this election can determine who controls the senate, which predicts what might happen next year in 2016. How Virginia votes for the President."
But...just outside in the student commons... it's a different story.
Do you know what's at stake this November in Virginia local elections? "I do not/"
Do you know what Virginians are voting for?
"I feel like college students don't really, necessarily notice like the state government and stuff like that. It's not that I don't think it's important... I honestly don't know, I just, I don't really think about it."
But voter apathy isn’t restricted to millennials. According to a recent poll from Christopher Newport University, more than two-thirds of Virginia voters aren’t paying attention to this year’s off-season elections.
