With the first Republican and Democratic primary elections quickly approaching in January, some students have begun to choose their favorite candidates and join a campaign for presidency.

Although many students choose to remain unaffiliated with any candidate until later in the election process, some individuals, like Andrew Bates, a sophomore in political science, said he felt it is important to lend support as early as possible.

Bates is a member of Students for Barack Obama and has been working for the last few months to drum up support for this Democratic candidate across the state.

“I signed on to the campaign several days before Senator Obama announced his official presidential candidacy,”Bates said. “I was on the fence before I saw the senator speak at a national convention in Washington D.C.”

Bates explained it is important to be proactive when trying to attract the college demographic and said his group is doing all they can to encourage interest in college-aged voters.

“Right now we are striving to mobilize young voters, get people registered and get them out to the poles,”Bates said. “There is a lot of apathy in our age group.”

According to Chair of the College Republicans Brittany Farrell, a senior in economics and political science, University Republicans are being encouraged to support all primary candidates and to remain neutral until after the elections.

“For now, we are taking the national party’s stance and not endorsing any particular candidate until after the primaries,” Farrell said “We are keeping open lines of communication with the three or four major candidates.”

Farrell said the College Republicans will host an informational fair sometime in November to help educate students on all potential candidates, but for now they are mainly concentrating on local elections.

“Right now our big focus is on the local gubernatorial elections,”Farrell said.

Brian Watts, a senior in chemistry and physics, said he feels education is the most important role that student campaigners can play in the time leading to the elections.

“Without students our age voting, there is no way we can ensure a candidate wins who supports our values,” Watts said. “Many people go into voting blindly, so these student groups help out a lot in making sure that students can go to the polls with a good background on each of the candidates.”

Erik Bron, a junior in sports management, said he is undecided as to where he will cast his vote, but is more likely to be influenced by how a candidate represents his or her convictions than his or her party affiliations.

“I vote solely on my beliefs and whichever candidate appeals the most to those beliefs gets my vote,” Bron said “If I feel that the candidate is sincere about what he is saying and it fits into my beliefs of what I want in a government official, I don’t really care what party they are in.”

Bates said so far working on the campaign has been a rewarding experience and it is important for students to remain informed and involved as the elections draw closer.

“Aside from love, the most important thing a person can give is labor,” Bates said. “I have really seen that demonstrated while working on this campaign.”