Tom Byron ’23 took the lessons he learned as a Political Science major at CC to get his dream campaign job as the Campaign Manager for House District 18 candidate Amy Paschal.
“I wouldn’t be doing this job if it wasn’t for CC,” says Byron. “The Political Science Department supported my campaign work from the start, especially my advisor, Eve Grace, and my U.S. Politics professor, Dana Wolfe. The flexibility of the Block Plan let me work the seasonal campaign schedule while staying in school, and the Political Science Department even offers a class to receive credit for working on different local and state-level campaigns.”
Byron started working for Paschal’s team in mid-June, and since then, he has built a campaign plan, organized her team of volunteers, trained people to knock on doors and make phone calls, managed fundraising and budgets, communicated with the press, and coordinated with other campaigns.
Byron met Paschal in 2022 while working with the El Paso County Democratic Party. Paschal was serving in local party leadership and worked in voter protection that year. “We became friends while putting together events for young people to get involved in politics, and we’ve worked together on and off ever since,” Byron says. “I decided I wanted to work for her campaign because it was a chance to work for someone I know will do good up in Denver, and who is running in a district I know and love. I have an amazing team, lots of freedom in my work, and a great candidate I know I can trust.”
This is a full-time position, and each day is different for Byron. “I’ll spend a few hours managing fundraising calls for Amy, confirm with our volunteer team about where and when we’re canvassing, update our budget and contact plan, post on social media, find community events for Amy to attend, train some new volunteers, and go out to talk to voters,” he says. “My day-to-day is pretty hectic!”
While Byron is originally from Virginia, he loves Colorado Springs and refers to it as an extremely unique place to work in politics.
“Colorado Springs is a rare red city in a newly blue state. It’s the second largest city in Colorado and people here are very politically engaged, but we get less political attention than much smaller cities like Boulder or Fort Collins,” Byron explains. “Local races here can be extremely competitive. We have two top priority state house campaigns in the city, but it’s very difficult to find campaign staff! I wanted to work in the Springs to make sure candidates like Amy have the full-time staff they need to run a smooth campaign, and keep doing my part to make this city a bit more blue.”
House District 18 includes CC and most of downtown Colorado Springs, as well as Green Mountain Falls, Manitou Springs, and Old Colorado City.
“House District 18 includes small towns, suburbs, multiple colleges, city centers, and rural neighborhoods, which means a wide variety of concerns for our voters,” Byron says. “But one issue that unites everyone is rising housing costs. No matter where you live, the cost of renting or buying a home is going up and people are being priced out. House District 18 was redistricted very recently and the current incumbent, Representative Marc Snyder, is running for State Senate this year. The race will be much more competitive as an open seat – no matter who wins, the margin is going to be a couple percentage points.”
While at CC, Byron worked with and eventually led CC Votes, a nonpartisan voting rights club on campus, and helped to revive Colorado College Democrats and the Democratic Dialogue Project, which is a nonpartisan civil-military relations club that connects CC and UCCS students with Air Force Academy cadets to talk about important political issues. Byron was also part of the President’s Council and worked with the Collaborative for Community Engagement to help CC students get involved in local politics. Today, he stays in touch with many of his former classmates and professors, as well as working alongside the CC Chapter of the Sunrise Movement.
Election Day is Nov. 5, 2024, and Bryon will continue running the campaign through Nov. 15.