In view of the upcoming democratic primary for state senate for Hopkins’ district, a Hopkins alum and a number of Hopkins students decided it was time for change.
The primary is September 14. Since there is no apparent Republican candidate, the winner of the primary will most likely be the next state senator.
Daniel Teran, a graduate of the class of 2010, had worked with a city councilman before, and after graduation became the campaign manager for Hector Torres, one of the first serious challengers to State Senator Joan Carter Conway since she was elected fourteen years ago.
Teran also helped recruit senior Max Dworin, who became the field director for Torres’s campaign.
Both expressed enthusiasm for their candidate, who they think has potential to help both the Hopkins community and reform state government.
Teran mentioned the three key ideals shaping Torres’s campaign: “Engage. Innovate. Communicate.”
“[Torres] wants to engage the community in decisions and look for new solutions to old problems,” he said. “He wants to look at what kind of solutions are working in other states and cities, rather than just throwing money at problems. I mean, the stimulus is set to end in about a year. The money will dry up.”
He also emphasized the communication aspect of the campaign.
“Senator Conway has one annual meeting with her constituents, and it’s not even open to the community. It’s only open to community leaders,” he said. “And she doesn’t really have a website. [Torres] has a blog that we have maintained and updated almost every other day this summer.”
Torres himself also spoke of his efforts to reach out to the community through his website and blog.
“It’s a way for me to communicate with people and for people to communicate with me,” he said. He also attributed some of his support among college students to his use of social media.
“With the social media and technology that we have today, we have no reason not to be transparent,” he said.
However, he also discussed the importance of direct interaction with the community to govern effectively.
“Social media can’t be the only way to communicate. We have a diverse district, and there are people who might not have access. It’s important to actually get out in the community.”
This is a point that Teran also emphasized.
“People shouldn’t have to pick up the phone and being calling around to try to find out what’s going on with their representative,” Teran said. “They should be able to access that information.”
Essentially, Teran said that he thinks Torres’s accessibility “makes the job of students looking to organize [politically] easier.”
Both he and Dworin mentioned Torres’s attendance at the Tuesday Hopkins Democrats meeting as an example of his willingness to engage the students.
Dworin spoke a little about the process of organizing students for Torres.
“Hopkins has really gotten behind Torres,” he said. “And it hasn’t been through money. It’s been through volunteering and giving time and effort.”
He estimated that throughout the course of the campaign about 75 Hopkins students have contributed their efforts.
“Our recruiting has mostly been through personal efforts,” he said. “We got some people through the Hopkins Democrats, some people from classes, some from listserves, like the political science department listserve. It’s been a viral campaign in that way.”
Dworin himself got involved in the campaign because of his friendship with Teran.
Teran estimated that they have about 150 volunteers to man the polls for election day.
“The difference between us and Senator Conway’s volunteers is that she can afford to pay her volunteers at the polls,” he said. “We can’t afford to do that, but we have people volunteering who really believe in our ideology.”
Torres also acknowledged that “We don’t have the kind of war chest that [Senator Conway] does, so I’ve really been getting out and talking to one voter at a time, and I think I’ve really made some inroads. And students are going to be very important to me in this campaign.”
Torres is a 30 year veteran of the Baltimore fire department, where he served as a spokesperson. Teran expressed the opinion that his visibility in that position also helped him build a support base.
City councilman Bill Henry, who represents the district immediately north of Hopkins and supports Torres, also touched on the candidate’s work in the fire department as an example of his commitment to public service, but further emphasized the fact that he had yet to hold an elected office.
“Having served for three years in an elected office, I can say from experience that it can really make you more cynical,” he said. “[Torres] doesn’t have that. He is still more idealistic about what government can accomplish.”
He thought that added to Torres’s appeal to college students.
“I like to hope that most Hopkins students are a little more optimistic and idealistic than some of the rest of the community,” he said. “If that is true, I think [Torres] will resonate with them.”
Conway could not be reached for comment on the upcoming election as of press time.
