As if pursuing an economics degree and serving as vice president of Delta Tau Delta fraternity were not enough to entertain senior Andrew Montgomery, he has assumed an even greater task: running a political campaign in a battleground district.
Montgomery’s relationship with Patrick Colbeck, Republican state senator from Michigan’s 7th District, began long before January 2014 when Colbeck asked Montgomery to run his campaign.
In high school, Montgomery was a member of the Student Statesmanship Institute (SSI), a leadership program for students interested in politics, justice, or media.
One of Montgomery’s projects as a member of SSI was to interview a local leader. Montgomery discovered Colbeck after searching for potential political leaders for the upcoming 2010 election.
“I realized that he was saying something that was completely different from what everybody else was saying,” said Montgomery. “He’s saying something that cuts right to the truth, and it’s something that I wholeheartedly believe in.”
After his interview with Colbeck, Montgomery decided to volunteer on Colbeck’s 2010 state Senate campaign. Colbeck won his election, and the two stayed in contact.
After his freshman year of college, Montgomery worked for Colbeck for the remainder of the summer, this time as an intern.While the Senate was in session, Andrew interned for Colbeck in Lansing and then in Colbeck’s district over the summer.
He continued to keep contact with Colbeck that following summer in 2013, during his internship in Washington D.C.
Before returning to Hillsdale for the second semester of his junior year, Montgomery received a call from Colbeck, asking him if he wanted to run his state Senate reelection campaign.
Montgomery described the situation as a “God-thing” because he had stopped looking for summer internships 15 minutes before Colbeck called. Within a few days, Montgomery accepted his offer.
Although Montgomery admitted that initially he had no idea what he was doing, by May he learned how to run a campaign.
“I had a huge learning curve,” he said. “At first I really didn’t know a whole lot about what was going on: the systems, the websites, the tools at my disposal. It’s definitely been trial and error.”
Despite Montgomery’s lack of political experience compared to others in Lansing, Colbeck was impressed by Montgomery’s professional caliber.
“Character cannot easily be taught,” Colbeck said. “But roles and responsibilities can. He displays a level of maturity well beyond his years.”
This past summer, Montgomery worked between 60 and 70 hours per week. His hard work paid off when Colbeck won his Republican primary by 75 percent of the vote. Now that Montgomery has returned to school, he only works 15 to 30 hours per week.
Freshman Brendan Noble worked under Montgomery during the campaign.
“Andrew is a great guy, and he’s definitely a zealous campaign manager,” Noble said. “He’s devoted to the cause wholeheartedly, but he’s not bossy, he’s really fun to work with. He was there for encouragement and guidance.”
Montgomery said that Colbeck’s reelection in November would be a great personal victory, but he also understands that the election is bigger than himself.
“You have to rely on others to get things done,” he said. “At the end of the day it’s all about God and it’s all about people.”
After graduation this May, Montgomery plans to go into business, but he is open to a career in politics later in life.
“What I’m working on is way more important than myself or my career,” Montgomery said. “This is a movement being reaffirmed by voters, reaffirming that you can be honest and you can have integrity and still be in politics.”
