On Tuesday, December 6th, the Wauwatosa East AP Government class will hold a mock election. Candidates are pairs of students from the class, and those who weren’t assigned roles as candidates get to participate as campaign managers, pollsters, SuperPACs, or members of the FEC. The task of voting is given to Juniors taking APP or APPSE, where they get to decide which candidates they felt were the most compelling in their campaign. 

“AP Government has a mock election so that students learn how American Elections work; specifically, political ideologies, platforms, campaigning strategies, voting, the roles of the FEC, SuperPACS, and using polling data to inform decisions,” said Ms. Ross, who teaches AP Government.

With a classroom setting and a teacher added to the mix, one might worry that the election is tipped unfairly towards a candidate, however, Ms. Ross makes sure to stay unbiased. “I don’t vote in the election, and I offer feedback to all roles to make sure the campaign/election is successful.”

This year, three sets of candidates are running, each with their own ideologies. The liberal candidates, Dylan Nolte and Daniel Casey, are running as part of The New Party. “Our party’s mission statement is to usher in a new and progressive agenda to [the] American government. We want to address the environment, healthcare, and student debt specifically,” Nolte said.

Hoping to appeal to voters as down-to-earth people, Nolte went on to add, “we enjoy a personal connection with the voters, [as] politicians often seem to be on [a] pedestal. But we disagree with this, we have been visiting multiple classes to show voters that we are indeed real people.”

On the other side of things are conservative candidates Kate Pluta and Ben Fraley, who are running for The Workers Party. “We are working for a better tomorrow by promoting modern conservative values such as being pro-choice, pro-climate change solutions, and pro-Pell grants,” said Kate Pluta.

Pluta and Fraley hope to stand out from other candidates by showing voters how their campaign is different, as Pluta continued, “We are different from the other candidates because we are the only ones that have proposed a fiscally responsible plan, and because we are modern conservatives, we generally fall on the socially liberal side.”

The third set of candidates, Lily Nikolic and Liam Nolan, are independents running as part of the L Party. “Our mission statement is Get Rid of It! Get rid of taxes, classism, seatbelts and unnecessary paywalls behind human rights,” said Nikolic. 

Self proclaimed as “the most passionate candidates,” Nikolic and Nolan hope to appeal to voters by “bribing voters with cookies, class visits, and posters”. They “plan to be the most relatable candidates and listen to our voters”.

The next few days will be crucial as candidates attempt to make one last bid for students’ votes. The election will be held Tuesday, with results expected Thursday.