The group’s most recent meeting in July had 104 attendees.
In the two months since its inception, Athens for Bernie Sanders — a local group supporting the Democratic presidential candidate from Vermont — has grown faster than its founder, Nate Wallace, anticipated.
“I was definitely not expecting it to get this big so quickly,” he said. “When we met in June we had probably about 15 people.”
At that point, the group was small enough to fit in one of the multi-purpose rooms at the Athens Public Library, 30 Home St.
The next month they had to move their meeting to the Athens Community Center, 701 E. State St., to accommodate the 104 attendees.
“I think everybody’s always looking for alternatives, someone fresh and new, and this gentleman impressed a lot of people,” said Alan Trout, former chair of the Athens County Democratic Party.
The function of the group extends beyond just garnering support for Sanders.
Wallace said the group’s July meeting also included speakers representing local political campaigns and issues.
Patrick McGee, an independent running for Athens City Council, introduced his campaign at that meeting.
The group also heard from speakers representing Athens County Planned Parenthood and a member of the Athens Bill of Rights Committee, which is trying to enact stricter regulations on fracking by changing Athens County to a charter form of government.
“This is not necessarily just issues we’re freelancing, because these are issues that Bernie Sanders cares about,” he said.
Earlier this month, some members of the group chalked up the sidewalks around town in support of Sanders.
“That’s what’s so incredible,” Wallace said. “We had talked about organizing for that and for whatever reason that didn’t go through, but people… saw it on (the group’s Facebook page) and they decided to get together.”
Stu Adams, an Ohio University senior studying political science, has already started taking that sentiment to students.
During the summer, he founded Bobcats for Bernie Sanders and launched a website for the group. That group had more than 200 students sign up during Sunday’s Involvement Fair.
Adams said he met Sanders when he was a freshman volunteering for fellow Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy.
“I could just tell that this guy was on the right side of history time and time again,” he said.
Sanders supporters aren’t the only people banding together at OU.
Anna Lippincott, a senior at OU studying journalism and political science and president of OU College Republicans, said that although the Republican population is comparably small in Athens, her group still campaigns vigorously during election season.
“We do do a ton of campaigning, we go door to door and we were the top calling center in Ohio during the last election,” Lippincott said.
She also said the group does not officially endorse a candidate during the primaries, but a lot of the members were partial to one candidate or another.
“I think a lot of us are partial to John Kasich, because of how positive he’s been for the state of Ohio,” she said.
@wtperkins
