Introducing Ourselves

What’s up?

If you’ve stumbled onto this corner of the Internet then you probably know Nathan & Grayson to some capacity. Either we are friends, or a friend of a friend, or one of us shamelessly begged for you to visit our blog so we can boost our numbers (thanks by the way).

If you don’t know who we are, allow us to introduce ourselves and our mission!

Grayson Harding is a senior at Aquinas College studying Economics, Political Science, and Data Analytics. Runs in circles during the Track & Field season. Interested in synthesizing the abstract with the concrete streets of Grand Rapids. Esports nerd.

Nathan Maurer:  I’m a Senior at Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, Michigan, studying Political Science, History and Economics. I enjoy running both Cross Country and Track & Field and I am passionate about politics and the study of how and why people vote.

The Mission: Deliver an insightful and approachable guide on the local politics of Grand Rapids and the state of Michigan.

Ever walked into a polling booth confident with who you’re voting for, only to realize that 1.) You don’t know 3/4ths of the names on the ballot because they’re all local or state-level and their races are not publicized; 2.) You’re not even sure what a city commissioner is; and 3.) You start to feel some sort of civic guilt that you’re wasting your vote by trying to blindly vote for whoever has the most confidence-inducing name (perhaps a Denzel or an Audrey… Romper.com seems convinced on this one).

That’s where we come in. As an independent study with Dr. Molly Patterson, we are analyzing local politics and elections within the Greater Grand Rapids Area. We believe that participation is the foundation of a healthy democracy, and over the next 15 weeks or so we will be filling this site with interviews, analyses of past elections, biographies of current elected officials, and more. If that interests you, drop your email at the bottom of the page to receive our newsletter. If not, comment what topic you would like us to cover! If it at least loosely is aligned with our mission, we may consider writing about it!

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