Anthony Cacciato, president of the Carnegie Mellon University College Republicans, leads a meeting of the group on Oct. 23, 2025 on CMU’s North Oakland campus. (Photo by Alex Jurkuta/Pittsburgh’s Public Source)
Political energy on campus is usually low during non-presidential elections. Trump, the Kirk assassination and more are stirring partisan passion at Pittsburgh-area universities ahead of tomorrow’s and next year’s voting.
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Student turnout in local elections is traditionally low, but campus groups have spent the semester preparing for tomorrow’s contests, and they’re already gearing up for next year’s midterms and gubernatorial race.
Campus Democrats and Republicans are energized, respectively, by anger at Trump administration policies and the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
For the Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) College Republicans and the College Republicans at Duquesne University, the semester started with a surge of interest.
“The work that Charlie Kirk did on campuses to help conservatives make their case in an otherwise fairly liberal environment, that inspired a lot of people, and I think that inspired a lot of our new members to get involved,” said CMU Republicans President Anthony Cacciato.
Olivia Pinocci-Wrightsman, co-president of the University of Pittsburgh College Democrats, stressed all elections are important. Her group hosted Allegheny County Council candidates and doorknocked for state Supreme Court retention.
Still, she said, local politics doesn’t garner campus interest like presidential races.
“These aren’t things that are inherently simple,” Pinocci-Wrightsman said. “Every county and local government operates differently.”
‘A lot at stake on the ballot’ for the left
Pinocci-Wrightsman said Trump administration actions are rallying students concerned about democracy and civil liberties. Those who previously saw local and state government as just a support structure for federal initiatives, now see it as a “last line of defense” for access to reproductive care, fair congressional districting and access to social services, she said.
Locally, the organization is concerned about potential Pittsburgh Regional Transit cuts and how the state budget impasse is affecting student financial aid and local nonprofit funding.
Out in the western suburbs, the Robert Morris University College Democrats are concerned about increased ICE raids in the region, club president Alexander Marsh said. Leading up to the election, the organization canvassed for local races and hosted speakers, such as County Council candidates Alex Rose and Kathleen Madonna-Emmerling.
A mobilized right
Cacciato said the College Republicans’ increased membership creates opportunities to show students the importance of local politics. The CMU club, which used to draw fewer than 10 people to most meetings, has attracted around 20 each time after Kirk’s death, he said.
Students are concerned, he said, about transportation and housing accessibility, but often don’t know how their concerns tie back to local and state government — which is why the club hosts “meet the candidate” information sessions.
“We’ve kind of lived in this environment in the last couple of decades, where it’s become so focused on what’s happening at the top that we neglect to see all the critical issues that are happening at the local level,” he said.
At Duquesne, College Republicans President Jonathan Collins said his goal is to start a speakers panel for local officials. The organization hopes to do direct outreach for the gubernatorial race in 2026, in which they have already endorsed Stacy Garrity, the state treasurer and likely GOP frontrunner to take on Democratic incumbent Josh Shapiro.
“The more localized you get, the more direct it becomes. And that party line is kind of blurred,” he said. “A Democrat and a Republican both want to fix the roads and at the end of the day, that’s kind of what local government is. It’s direct action.”
‘Distrust,’ ‘frustration’ and ‘apathy’
Democratic student leaders acknowledged growing distrust in the national party.
Mia Pirichy, president of the Chatham University College Democrats, said the party’s broad support for Israel is a major dividing point for young voters.
Pinocci-Wrightsman said rhetoric about the economy may also push young voters away.
“Members of the Democratic Party, we have a tendency to talk at people, or talk down to people, or overintellectualize … to people who are feeling the real consequences of the topic,” she said. “So I think that that’s most prevalent when it comes to the economy.”
Locally however, Pirichy said the issue isn’t distrust in leadership, it’s a lack of “faith” that the city or county can do much to curb federal actions.
Jennie Sweet-Cushman, political science professor at Chatham University, said in the past five to seven years she’s noticed growing apathy and frustration from young voters — largely because of online rhetoric urging young people to block out negativity.
“Historically, the institutions closest to voters were the ones that enjoyed the most trust from them. And I think that that is still true. But in general, trust has eroded so much that that’s had impacts on state and local officials as well,” Sweet-Cushman said.
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Alexander Marsh’s laptop sits on a desk during the Robert Morris University College Democrats meeting on Oct. 27. He is president of the RMU group. (Photo by Alex Jurkuta/Public Source) -
Alexander Marsh on the Robert Morris University campus on Oct. 27. (Photo by Alex Jurkuta/Pittsburgh’s Public Source)
Marsh said, however, local candidates are engaging young voters more effectively than many of their federal counterparts.
“You cannot win power in this country without young people, not because we’re a majority of the voting base, but because we’re a majority of the activist base,” Marsh said.
Seeking alternatives
In some cases, young voters may be turning away from the two-party system.
Jeremy Sabo, co-chair for the Pittsburgh chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, said the organization’s growing membership stems from disappointment in the Democratic Party and what he characterizes as its consistent negative messaging.
“I see that in our local organizing as well,” he said. “I think it’s easier to get people to engage when you offer them a positive thing to strive for.”
The organization’s main demographic is millennials, but there is a steady stream of Gen Z interest, Sabo said.
“People feel alienated from each other. It’s a very atomized society and people also feel incredibly disempowered and out of control,” Sabo said.
County Council candidate Alex Rose, who is running at-large as an independent, said young voters are more willing to trust local officials — regardless of party. His non-affiliation has intrigued some young voters accustomed to ballots strewn with D’s and R’s, he said.
“A lot of young voters are excited by that. They go, ‘Hey, this is cool to see someone who doesn’t have that party label next to them,’ because there is that lack of trust in these national institutions,” Rose said.
Civic education
Organizers across party lines said disinterest in local politics stems back to one thing: poor civic education.
“When you don’t have a good understanding of how parties work locally … then you kind of transfer your understanding of what that looks like for Congress onto, say, City Council,” Sweet-Cushman said.
She said media literacy and more classroom focus on local institutions aids civic engagement. Lack of age representation may also lead to disengagement, Sweet-Cushman said.
“There is this growing sense that there needs to be change and that change could come in the form of younger candidates and a more youthful approach to governance,” she said.
Some people, Marsh said, may be underestimating their power in the democratic process.
“Politicians can’t do politics on their own,” Marsh said. “They need volunteers, they need staff members, they need canvassers. They need door knockers. And if you take on those responsibilities, people will listen to you, and you can bring about change.”
Ember Duke is a Pittsburgh’s Public Source editorial intern. She can be reached at ember@publicsource.org.
This story was fact-checked by Tory Basile.
This article first appeared on Pittsburgh’s Public Source and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.