In seven months, both the Democratic Party and the Republican Party will begin their primary election process to determine who will represent each group in the 2016 Presidential Election.  The primary campaign season is already well underway with many individuals having recently announced their intentions to run in the 2016 election.

The five individuals who have announced their intention to run in the Democratic Party’s primary election include: Hillary Clinton, Sen. Bernie Sanders, Jim Webb, Martin O’Malley and Lincoln Chafee.

 On the Republican side, there are 13 candidates who have announced their intent to run in the primary election. 

 The candidates who have announced on the Republican side include: Jeb Bush, Gov. Bobby Jindal, Ben Carson, Sen. Ted Cruz, Carly Fiorina, Sen. Lindsey Graham, Mike Huckabee, George Pataki, Sen. Rand Paul, Gov. Chris Christie, Rick Perry, Sen. Marco Rubio, Rick Santorum, Gov. John Kasich, Gov. Scott Walker and Donald Trump.

Around Oakland University, there is a wide range of reaction from students to the beginning of the primary elections.

Jake Rapanotti, a sophomore at Oakland University, explained his interest in the election.

 “I’m aware of who has announced so far,” Rapanotti said. “I like to pay attention to who is announcing because there are always some interesting candidates.  This year it seems like it is Donald Trump.  I haven’t done a ton of research about the candidates, but Donald Trump definitely seems like an interesting candidate.”

Not all students are enthusiastic about the start of a new election process as Samantha Sneor, a senior at Oakland University, pointed out.

 “I really haven’t been paying attention at all other than the things I’ve seen on social media,” Sneor said.  “I’m not fully aware of who is running and if some of these people are just running as a joke like Donald Trump.”

Many students including Humaira Khan, a junior at Oakland University, feel that it is too early to be worrying about an election that is over a year away.

“It’s just too early to be worrying about all these candidates right now,” Khan said.  “It is over a year before we have to vote and I don’t think it is a good thing to worry about (the election) right now.”

Although many people feel that it may be very early to be thinking about electing a new president in 2016, Dr. David Dulio, Chair of the Political Science Department at Oakland University, pointed out some interesting aspects of the election so far and that campaigning begins way before the candidates make their formal announcement.

“You can make a case it never ends for these candidates,” Dulio said. “It depends on what you are defining as an official beginning.  If you define it as official announcements, 18 months out is fair.  But many of these candidates are engaged in campaign activities behind the scenes well before they make an official announcement.”

 One of the most intriguing aspects of the 2016 election thus far is the difference in the number of candidates running in the Republican primary compared to the Democratic primary.

 Dr. Dulio explained that Hillary Clinton has had a major impact on the amount of Democrats who will run in their party’s primary.

 “I think that other Democrats look at it and think Hillary is going to win so why bother,” Dulio said.

 On the other side, Dr. Dulio explained the large number of Republican candidates could be attributed to the opportunity that presents itself with no clear front-runner in their party right now.

“I think Republicans see opportunity,’ said Dulio. “They don’t see a dominant player on their side as there is with the Democrats.  Hillary Clinton is the dominant force (for the Democrats) and there is no room for anybody else.  There is a lot of room for a lot of people on that Republican side right now.” 

Michigan’s primary election will be held on March 8, 2016.