Election series to feature party officials, IU politics experts

IU




September 9, 2016

A series of election-related programs aimed at helping IU Bloomington students and others learn about the November 2016 election gets underway next week with a discussion featuring Indiana Democratic and Republican party representatives.
John Zody
John Zody, chair of the Indiana Democratic Party, and Tim Berry, former chair of the Indiana Republican Party, will share a stage from 6 to 7 p.m. Wednesday in the Student Activities Room of Briscoe Residence Center. The discussion is free and open to the public.
Zody, who lives in Bloomington, got involved with politics as an IU student. He was elected Indiana Democratic chair in March 2013. Before that, he served as Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic political director for President Barack Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign.
Berry, a Fort Wayne native who lives in Indianapolis, stepped down as Republican chairman in March 2015. He served two terms as Indiana’s elected state treasurer and was in his second term as state auditor when Gov. Mike Pence selected him to become state party chairman in July 2013.
Tim Berry
The nonpartisan IU election series is sponsored by the Department of Political Science, the Political and Civic Engagement program, known as PACE, and the Civic Leaders Center. It is part of IU Bloomington’s participation in the All In Campus Democracy Challenge, a nationwide initiative aimed at increasing civic engagement and voting by college students.
Marjorie Hershey, professor of political science and coordinator of the series, said several groups were planning election-related programming and decided to join forces for a single series. Scheduled events include:
6 to 7 p.m. Sept. 19, location to be determined – A discussion on the 2016 elections featuring IU politics experts. Panelists will include Hershey; Paul Helmke, professor of practice in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs, director of the Civic Leaders Center and former mayor of Fort Wayne; Leslie Lenkowsky, professor emeritus in SPEA; and Jill Long Thompson, ...

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