Sheryl Johnson is a Democrat challenging U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson for his seat in Congress this Nov.
She is kicking off her “Tour of South Dakota” with a town hall looking to first time voters for support.
In Augustana University’s Hamre Recital Hall students aren’t gathered to listen to music. They are gathered to question a candidate running for Congress.
Mohamed Mohamed is the president of college democrats of South Dakota. He said college students have a voice.
“Augustana is located in District 12, where some votes might be within 87 votes so that’s when college students are very vital in these areas. And so, don’t forget that your power, your vote is very important in critical districts like here,” Mohamed said.
He also said that – more than anything – students want security.
“Where am I gonna be in 10 years or, you know, am I gonna have a good life in 10 years? But right now as a college student the one thing I think you’re gonna be asking yourself is ‘can I afford life?’ You know, ‘can I pay for school?’ that’s the biggest question that each college student is asking themself right now, and it is very important to be informed about who the candidates are that are going to be effectively addressing that issue that you have,” Mohamed said.
Lilly Roberts is an Augustana student. She asked Johnson her plan amidst tensions in the state.
“So if you’re elected do you plan on addressing any issues in Congress about Native reservations and kind of helping fix relations and fix conditions for them,” Roberts said.
Johnson said she wants to listen to Native individuals and help ease tensions with the federal government.
“There's so much bureacracy that if there’s some way we could streamline stuff because there’s so many paper pushers. And I know that’s a huge project, but we need to get out we need to listen to them and find out what their concerns are,” Johnson said.
Johnson is heading next to the University of South Dakota to visit with students.
