By Sue Moore
Schoolcraft high school graduate Morgan Macfarlane, class of 2014, is now running a political campaign for a state senate contestant in Illinois. She got her start when she was a senior intern for the South County News. That year she also started a school newsletter and persuaded classmates to write, edit and take pictures for the Eagle Press, put on line for anybody in school to read or contribute to.
Her road has had plenty of twists and turns on the way to becoming campaign manager for 30-year-old Democrat candidate Bridgett Fitzgerald, running in a suburban Chicago district against a Republican incumbent.
Macfarlane enrolled as a journalism major at Western Michigan University after completing Middle College credits while in high school. She has volunteered on political campaigns locally, beginning with Kevin Wordelman’s for Kalamazoo County Board of Commissioners in 2014.
She liked the political world enough that she took on several races in 2016. All lost. “That was a rough year for Democrats,” Macfarlane said. But it didn’t deter her from the competitive nature of campaigning when she took the job in Illinois. By that time, she had switched her major at WMU to political science and international studies, then gender and women’s studies. She plans to graduate in 2019. She has moved to Hinsdale, Ill. and is living with a family that is a big supporter of Fitzgerald.
Travel experiences caught Macfarlane’s fancy in between campaigns. She backpacked through Macedonia, Kosovo, Serbia, Hungary and Germany last summer, did her study abroad in India and recently visited Cuba. If all goes well, she would love to become a travel tour guide.
For now, it’s hitting the campaign trail, with every day exciting and unpredictable. Her candidate has an uphill fight to get to Springfield. To assure an upset win, Macfarlane is putting her journalism talents to good use, writing press releases, setting up interviews and managing the large staff in support of Fitzgerald.