Hillary Clinton and Colleen Deacon weren’t the only women leaders on the ticket this election term for Central New Yorkers. Molly McGuane ‘17 finished a rewarding campaign in her hometown of Marcellus, running for a position on the town board. McGuane took on the interim councilman in what was a close battle and was just the first spark to the flame that has encapsulated McGuane. “I have definitely caught a bug and want to try again.”
Running a campaign for the first time can be stressful, but with the help of the chairwoman for the Marcellus DNC, Nancy Bonn, the journey was a bit easier. “I knew this was something I wanted to do. Nancy helped me a lot. She helped me send out absentee ballots. She talked to everyone she knew in Marcellus. All the while, she was helping another woman—Diane Dwyer—run for state assembly. She took me under her wing and understood how busy I was with lacrosse. She went the extra mile to help me in the campaign.” Considering that she is only 21, McGuane said, “I wasn’t really sure what I was doing, but now that I know how to campaign more, I think I could do better.”
Communication was key for McGuane as she tried to get word out about her campaign. “I put things on social media, and went door to door, but if I ran again I would do more door to door. I would introduce myself to more people because I think that would have gotten me more votes.” When she wasn’t in school, playing lacrosse, and participating in extracurriculars like any college student, she spent as much time as she could reaching out to people from her hometown.
Being young in this race did have its advantages though. As a former lacrosse player for Marcellus, she is no stranger to taking on leadership roles and working with a team. She naturally inspired the younger population in Marcellus and other community members. “So many people my age were sharing online that I was running. A lot of people said they would run for positions now and someone my age on Facebook messaged me saying, ‘Don't be upset that you lost. You've inspired me and I'm going to go run in my town now,’” says McGuane. “I just thought that was so cool because I didn't even know this person and he was telling me that I inspired him just by running and trying to make a difference.” He wasn’t the only one to reach out to McGuane and express how she had inspired him. “Another kid that I used to go to school with that studies political science at SUNY Potsdam told me, ‘There is another spot on the town board open in two years and I’m going to run for it.’”
While she wasn’t elected, McGuane still had results that expressed the nature of her campaign—running for the people and not the position.
“I have a much more positive outlook now,” she says. “Marcellus is a very Republican area and running as a Democrat already put me at a disadvantage. At first I was nervous to tell people that I was running because most people would probably think that I was inexperienced. It’s true though, I am inexperienced, but for town council you don't need a lot of background or experience. All you need is to care for the town and to be able to listen to people,” she says. “Once I told people, they were so excited and supportive of me. It honestly blew me away. I'm excited to run again because it means so much to the people and my peers just to see that I did it.”
Through her unusual campaign, McGuane has shown that it isn’t just the prominent politicians we see that can have an impact on the community. “I think if I were to be a politician, I would want to do it at the local level. You get to interact more with the people you represent. Marcellus is a small community, so I think I would enjoy being a local politician more because I can see the difference I am making rather than sitting in an office in Washington, D.C.”
“At the end of the day your party doesn’t matter. Making a difference in the community is what matters.”
Article by Dominic P. Uliano, IV '18. Dominic is interning with the Offices of Communications and Advancement this semester.
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