Members of the Ronan Boys and Girls Club received a civics lesson by meeting with local political candidates and holding a mock election. 

RONAN – Members of the Ronan Boys and Girls club received a crash course in elections on Oct. 27, as the children met with local political candidates and ran mock campaigns of their own. 

“These kids are all seeing political ads on TV but are not knowing what they mean,” club CEO Aric Cooksley said. “We wanted to give them something practical, something that was real life.” 

The children visited with Republican Senate District 47 candidate Dan Salomon, Susan Evans, the Democratic challenger in the House District 12 race, and Dave Stipe who beat out two others to run unopposed for Lake County Commissioner District 2 in the general election. 

“To see a candidate in person and realize they’re actually a human being is a valuable experience,” Evans said. “It’s important that they look at voting as a responsibility and a privilege.” 

In addition to grilling the candidates in rapid-fire succession, despite Cooksley’s reminders to ask one question at a time, club members voted for their own president, vice president and governor. 

The process included a valuable lesson in voter rights.

When asked if a sixth grader’s ballot should count more than a first grader’s, a wavering discussion ensued. Cooksley took to opportunity to explain a fundamental element of democracy. 

“It doesn’t matter if you’re big or small,” he told the crowd. “All the votes count the same.”

Salomon said it’s important to instill the importance of voting at a young age. He said he tried to explain to the children that politician deal with issues that directly impact their lives. When he revealed that he was a dairy farmer, however, the discussion promptly pivoted.

“They got really interested in asking me about that,” Salomon said.

While it may be years until the children can cast ballots in a presidential race, they nevertheless showed an interest. 

Cooksley said before the election event started some children were echoing the talking points surrounding the Republican candidate Donald Trump. 

“I had to tell them, let’s talk about things that matter to us,” he said.  “Let’s do this better than the adults.”