Trying to be politically active as someone who doesn’t have family or friends already in the organizations can be intimidating. For our college level, there are the Young Democratic Socialists, College Democrats of East Tennessee State University, and the Conservative Coalition at East Tennessee State University.
There are options in Washington County as well, such as the Washington County Democratic Party. On their website, they write their mission is “To promote and uphold the values of the national Democratic Party, as set forth in the Democratic Party Platform by the Democratic National Committee (DNC), in an effort to build a more perfect, inclusive union within Washington County, the state of Tennessee, and the United States of America.”
There is also the Washington County Republican Party. They have a Facebook page with information. Their website automatically directs the user to the state-wide Tennessee Republican party website.
Currently, without the year being an election year for the U.S. Senate, U.S. House of Representatives, or the President of the United States, there are not many campaigns currently happening. Next year, 2022, there will be U.S. House of Representatives elections. There will be no Senate elections for Tennessee at the federal level.
At the state level, Senator Rusty Crowe in the Tennessee Senate will be up for reelection in 2022. In Senator Crowe’s 2018 election, he ran in the general race unopposed.
I argue, there are many more ways to be politically active. There are options to join the Black Affairs Association for students of color. There is also SAGA, an organization representative of LGBTQIA+ students and allies.
Volunteering and mutual aid are also acts of being political. Tri-Cities Mutual Aid enters into the community to aid disabled, poor and people of color members of our local community. They have also held clothing drives in the past.
