UC Merced Magazine | Volume XIX, Issue V

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Amid what Monroe describes as an unprecedented presidential election year that will present the same two major-party candidates from four years ago, CAPE hopes to train students to cut through the contention and nd common sense and, perhaps, common ground. “At a time when partisanship is so intense and people seem so divided and entrenched in their ideological positions, our goal is to try to help students have a pragmatic understanding of the way that politics and policy intersect,” he said. “Not to say that we want to undermine convictions or ideological beliefs. But there is another layer of approaching politics that is deeper and beyond partisanship.” The Local Landscape Monroe calls the Central Valley the November general election’s epicenter of congressional politics. at is especially true for CAPE students, who have a front-row seat for what has been called one of the most competitive congressional districts in the nation. Gray, a former member of the state Assembly, will face o against Republican incumbent John Duarte for U.S. House District 13, which includes portions of Merced, Madera, San Joaquin, Stanislaus and Fresno counties. It is a rematch of the 2022 race, which separated the candidates by less than half of a percentage point. e decision by former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy of Baker eld to retire from Congress last year a ects all congressional races in the Central Valley — contests that will be critical in deciding the majority in the House of Representatives, Monroe said. “ e vacuum created by not having McCarthy as part of the Republican ticket up and down the Central Valley a ects all of the other Republican candidates in terms of fundraising and in the way they have to relate to certain Republican positions in their campaigns,” Monroe said. CAPE, located on the rst oor of the Social Sciences and Management building, aims to engage the campus community in politics by connecting students with related research experience, making appearances in the news media to make sense of political developments, bringing political debates and speakers to campus, and serving as a clearinghouse for political internships and positions in campaigns. Alexandra Rizo, a CAPE member and fourth-year political science major, said when she makes ballot selections this fall, the Central Valley native will choose candidates who

Monroe and Gray are ready to work with students.

can do bipartisan work. She is urging her peers across the spectrum of political engagement to vote, too. “ ere are some elections that have been lost by very few votes — especially local,” Rizo said. ird-year student Ananya Veerapaneni is double-majoring in political science with aspirations to attend medical school, and her political priorities re ect that. “I just really hope that someone can address the social determinants of health between the Central Valley and the rest of California and take care of the housing crisis that we have here,” Veerapaneni said. Around election season, initiatives and candidates are important conversations in her home. Veerapaneni’s parents recently became citizens and are new to voting in U.S. elections. When their ballots arrive at their home, they have questions. “Being a rst-generation student, I take a lot of pride in being able to research that and discuss it with my family — what it means and what it would mean for us to vote a certain way. A lot of UC Merced students are similar in that sense,” she said. “Most of us form political ideals that we go home and share with our families. e school does a really good job of educating us properly to consider all angles and all factors.”

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