Ahead of the November election, local Democratic candidates Josh Riley and State Sen. Lea Webb visited Binghamton University for the New York College Democrats summit.

For the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic, College Democrat chapters from across the state attended the convention in the University Union this weekend. Riley, mired in a tight battle against Republican Rep. Marc Molinaro for the 19th Congressional District, spoke on Saturday, and Webb spoke the following day. The convention held canvassing and “Get Out the Vote!” workshops to encourage involvement in the upcoming election. After the speeches on Sunday, students attended canvassing training with Webb and Riley’s teams before getting out into the area to gauge community concerns and promote election-centered information.

“Students across the nation are one of the most passionate political demographics, and there’s definitely no lack of that passion here at Binghamton either,” Ryan Gaire, the president of BU’s College Democrats and a junior majoring in political science, wrote to Pipe Dream. “Additionally, students, who tend to skew left, are an important bloc of voters that need to turn out and vote given the nature of some of our elections happening in this area.”

The convention kicked off with a welcome reception and video addresses from state senators and assemblymembers. Following a voter engagement workshop led by Sophie Ascheim, an organizer with the New York State Democratic Party, College Democrat moderators introduced Riley, who emphasized the importance of the local congressional race — rated a toss-up by the Cook Political Report.

In 2022, Molinaro prevailed with 50.8 percent of the vote to Riley’s 49.2 percent — a margin of 4,495 votes. Riley said the race could be key in deciding the majority in the House of Representatives.

“This is obviously a very perilous time in American history and American democracy,” Riley said. “And the way I look at it is, how great of an opportunity it is and how cool it is that somehow, at this defining moment in the history of our country, fate has chosen all of us to be the people in the district that’s going to decide the future.”

He urged students to vote in the upcoming election for the 19th Congressional District, calling it one of the most competitive and expensive congressional races in the country. As of Sept. 30, Riley’s campaign has raised $8.1 million to Molinaro’s $4.8 million.

Riley shared key objectives of his campaign, like his support for reproductive rights and endorsement of Proposal 1 — a statewide ballot measure that would amend the New York Constitution defining, among other things, “pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes, and reproductive healthcare and autonomy” as protected classes. He criticized Molinaro’s voting record on abortion and denounced him for “trying to convince voters that he’s all of a sudden pro-choice.”

Throughout his speech, Riley criticized Molinaro for being backed by corporate donors and said he refuses to take corporate PAC money. He argued for the overturning of Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, a 2010 Supreme Court case that blocked attempts to limit corporate involvement in elections.

“The real estate industry is one of the biggest donors to my opponent’s campaign,” Riley said. “I think we need way more housing, affordable housing, middle-income housing, but the housing industry doesn’t want to do that because, with supplies low, they’re getting really high profits. Then when the decisions get made in Congress, the politicians are doing what their corporate PAC donors want to do, and not what all of you want to do.”

After the talk concluded, the moderators opened the floor to questions from the audience. Following a question about U.S. foreign policy, particularly with the war between Russia and Ukraine and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, Riley said that he would prioritize both the United States’ democratic allies and minimizing human suffering.

Later that day, the College Democrats hosted a panel featuring two Binghamton city councilors — Hadassah Mativetsky ‘07, MS ‘12 and Nate Hotchkiss ‘12 — along with Jonathan Krasno, a political science professor at BU, and Margaret Giordano, the president of BU’s Abortion Advocacy Coalition and a senior majoring in psychology. The panel discussed the candidates and proposals on the ballot, stressing the issues at stake in the election.

Ari Hoffman, an undeclared freshman, said the panel offered inspiration for how to get involved in politics, even in ways that they did not initially think would make a difference.

“But I think if we are really strong in that and get the college vote out, that can totally change the course of elections, definitely make the students be heard,” Hoffman said.

On Sunday, Webb visited BU for a Q&A session. After sharing encounters with voters who said they would not vote for her, she stressed the importance of adopting policies to better all constituents.

“As you are doing this work — whether any of you in this room are looking to run for office, are looking to be involved in public policy in different ways — you are going to come across people who are absolutely on the other side of the spectrum as you will be,” Webb said. “As an elected official, you represent everyone. So, part of the challenge is figuring out how do you remain authentic to your values and your beliefs, but still maintain some level of dignity.”

Webb discussed initiatives passed in the most recent legislative session, including expanding the Tuition Assistance Program — raising grants for students’ college costs from $500 to $1,000 and increasing income eligibility to $110,000. She discussed legislation she plans to introduce if reelected, like a bill to transfer excess funds on-campus food cards to food insecure students and affordable housing developments.

She mentioned ways for students to get involved in local politics, like volunteering for campaigns or interning for government offices. At the end of the session, she encouraged student engagement in the upcoming election through canvassing and voter registration campaigns.

“The amount of students that were involved with voter registration during [the 2020] election, which was just four years ago, was some of the top levels of engagement that we have seen on campus,” Webb said. “And so with this election, we need that times 10 because of everything that’s going on.”