Use this search box to find articles that have run in our newspapers over the last several years.
Date: 2/1/2018
WILBRAHAM – Holyoke Catholic High School graduate, Holyoke Community College (HCC) student and Wilbraham resident Ashley Marceau has joined candidate for U.S. Senate Geoff Diehl’s campaign as their newest intern.
While Marceau wasn’t interested in politics while she attended Holyoke Catholic, during her sophomore year at HCC she began to become more invested in politics during her first internship search process.
“I knew someone who was just starting his own production company and had asked if he needed an intern to help with any social media pages. It was then where he mentioned that his friend [Sal Circosta] was running for mayor of Springfield and they were looking for a social media coordinator,” Marceau recounted. “I wasn’t interested in politics at the time, however I was convinced that being apart of a group of people committing hours of their time to support one person is what grew my interest in working in the field of politics.”
Marceau explained that through her internship for Circosta’s campaign, she gained valuable experience managing the campaign’s social media pages, working at events, attending city meetings and canvasing around the city.
“It was then that I realized how interesting politics can be even on the smaller end of the scale. Everyone can make a difference somehow and I just loved how we were able to accomplish so much,” she said.
Her experience interning on the campaign trail inspired Marceau so much so that she decided to take courses focused on politics. Now, she’s minoring in Political Science while majoring in Communication.
In Spring 2017 Marceau had the opportunity to intern for another political candidate: Congressman Richard Neal. She worked in his Springfield office, answering phone calls from constituents and working on cases.
“Working on opposite party lines was an experience I was grateful to have because it made me see viewpoints from the Democratic side,” Marceau said.
Clamoring for experience, Marceau decided to scoop up an additional internship opportunity before she graduates from HCC this spring. Her boyfriend mentioned to her that Geoff Diehl was running for state Senate, and she took to her computer to research his views.
“One personal issue that resonated with me, is that Geoff has recently pushed a plan to improve veterans’ health care to assure that our members of the military will be taken care of once their duty is over. My grandfather served in the Navy during the Korean War, as well as my future step-father who served in the Iraqi and Afghan wars,” Marceau shared.
After researching Diehl’s political views, she decided to apply for an internship with the campaign and within days had an interview scheduled. She noted the process was quite casual and the atmosphere was welcoming.
“It didn’t feel like an interview but like a conversation. After the interview, I was hired on the spot and had the opportunity to meet with Geoff personally. Geoff was very personable, well spoken and thankful for my set of skills that I will be bringing to his campaign,” she said.
Over the course of her internship with Diehl, Marceau will be traveling to the campaigns headquarters in Scituate once a week, managing the “Students for Diehl” social media pages, helping canvas for the campaign and working on campaign events. She noted that since she’s living in Wilbraham, her goal for the campaign is to reach out to different college Republican groups and organizations to spread the word about Diehl, collect signatures for nomination papers, cover delegate caucus meetings and speak with constituents about why she believes Diehl will be a great choice for U.S. Senate.
“Even though Geoff is not our representative here in Western Mass., he has always been more than willing to help constituents outside of his district which goes to show that he would be a great senator. This is a great opportunity and I’m grateful to work on this campaign because it is such a vital race in an important time in our country,” Marceau said. “For me personally, it’s an honor and surreal experience to go from a mayoral campaign in Springfield, interning for Congressman Neal, to a state-wide Senate race in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.”
In a statement, Diehl expressed his enthusiasm to have Marceau joining his team.
“We are excited to have Ashley as part of the team. It is great to see young people like Ashley wanting to help our campaign and we are excited to have her on board,” Diehl said.
To learn more about Diehl’s campaign, go to supportgeoffdiehl.com.