Northport student wins governor race

By Michael R. Ebert
michael.ebert@newsday.com

Move over, Eliot Spitzer. There’s a new governor in town. Her name is Julie Raisch, an outgoing senior at Northport High School.

In late June, Raisch was elected governor at the annual New York Empire Girls State, a weeklong “think camp” at SUNY Brockport College that teaches female students about the political process. Hosted by the American Legion Auxiliary, the weeklong workshop saw nearly 400 teenagers live together as self-governing citizens running political campaigns, debating and formulating legislation, among other things.

“I have a very strong interest in government and current events,” explained Raisch, who is currently an intern for Senator Chuck Schumer. “If I can get involved in politics, then I can influence public policy. It’s just something that I’ve always been interested in.”

During the development of their mythical “Girls State,” citizens were divided into 11 counties named for famous women and two political parties: Nationalists and Federalists. They then formed a model state government. Raisch, for example, assembled a 15-person campaign team and obtained both county and party nominations on her path to election.

While some candidates chose to employ a flashy or humorous campaign strategy, the resolute Raisch took a more straightforward approach.

“Ultimately, I think I was successful because I took my platform very seriously,” stated Raisch, who even vetoed one Homeland Security bill that she deemed as unethical.

“It lent itself to racial profiling,” she said.

Still, the biggest issue that concerns Raisch is the nation’s youth voter turnout, despite its rise to 24% of eligible voters between the ages of 18-29 in last fall’s elections, according to the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement.

“A lot of kids my age don’t vote because they don’t know all the issues,” she said. “Also, they aren’t entirely familiar with how a government works. It takes time to learn.”

In addition to Empire Girls State, Raisch is involved in a number of other activities, including an Intel Research project. She and classmates also visited Nicaragua four times, helping to raise $250,000 for underprivileged people. She plans to major in political science.