Soon after Emma McLaughlin finished her junior year at Davidson College in North Carolina, she packed up her Jeep and drove to Iowa, ready for a summer of politics.

From a new home base in Council Bluffs, McLaughlin spent eight weeks making calls, visiting farmers markets, and canvassing on behalf of U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris of California.

The 21-year-old, whose internship ended in July, was just one the many college students who flocked to Iowa to participate in the 2020 Democratic caucus process. But McLaughlin also experienced the benefit of a major shift in campaigns this cycle: She was paid.

“I was pretty passionate about working for Sen. Harris regardless, but the fact that the summer was something that was paid for made it a lot easier for me to kind of uproot myself, come all the way out to Iowa, and live here for the summer," McLaughlin said. "It would have been much more challenging and maybe not even possible for me to do that had it not been a paid internship."

Paid campaign internships have been rare in recent political history, but several 2020 candidates' campaigns are changing the tide. Of the 21 Democratic presidential campaigns the Des Moines Register called, 12 confirmed to the Register that they offer internships in Iowa. Some offered summer opportunities while others have ongoing positions. All but one of those 12 provided some interns a paycheck.

Fellowships, internships and pay

Former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden is the only candidate whose Iowa operation offered exclusively unpaid positions to students. The ongoing Iowa "fellowship program" has no set hours, but involves weekly meetings with senior staff and mandatory digital training. It runs for eight weeks during the summer.

Julia Krieger, Biden's Iowa communications director, stressed that the program is primarily educational and offers a structured curriculum for participants, differentiating it from a traditional internship. The campaign offers both paid internships and fellowship programs similar to Iowa's in other early states.

Seven campaigns offer exclusively paid internships in Iowa. U.S. Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey, Kamala Harris of California, and Bernie Sanders of Vermont, as well as South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg and former U.S. Housing Secretary Julián Castro, pay their Iowa interns $15 an hour. Montana Gov. Steve Bullock pays his interns $15.40 per hour, more than any other campaign that told the Register it pays interns.

U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar's Iowa press secretary, Courtney Rice, did not provide information on how much the Minnesotan's interns are paid. Buttigieg's Iowa communications director, Ben Halle, said that while all interns were offered payment, interns could choose to forgo their wages in favor of class credit.

Several campaigns offer unpaid internships alongside paid positions. Unpaid interns may receive academic credit for their campaign work and typically have more flexible hours than their paid counterparts.

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts uses unpaid "volunteer fellows" in Iowa, in addition to her paid interns who receive $15 an hour. The fellows applied through the same form as interns, submitting a resume, cover letter, and short-answer questions about their interest in the program. The Warren campaign offers free supporter housing to all fellows and interns.

U.S. Sen. Kristen Gillibrand of New York operates a similar system, but with the terms "intern" and "fellow" switched. Fellows are given a monthly living expenses stipend. Rachel Irwin, Gillibrand's Iowa communications director, declined to specify the amount of the stipend. Gillibrand's part-time interns are unpaid and may receive academic credit for their internships. (Gillibrand dropped out of the race in late August.)

U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado offers paid Iowa internships at $15 an hour, but also offers unpaid positions for class credit. Samantha Greene, a communications advisor for Bennet's campaign, estimated that about 60% of their interns are paid.

Former Maryland U.S. Rep. John Delaney's campaign has a paid fellows program and an unpaid internship program in Iowa. Campaign officials did not respond to repeated requests for comment on the nature of the programs.

Nearly all of the 2020 Democratic candidates, even those with unpaid campaign internships, advocate for a $15 minimum wage.

“Voters want folks that are consistent,” Carlos Vera, executive director of nonprofit Pay Our Interns, said. “Practice what you preach. People are going to call you out a lot more often now than in the past.”

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, Massachusetts U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton, former Texas U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke, Ohio U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan, former Pennsylvania U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak, and author Marianne Williamson confirmed to the Register that they did not offer internships in Iowa.

U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii; Miramar, Florida, Mayor Wayne Messam; activist Tom Steyer; and entrepreneur Andrew Yang did not respond to requests for comment.

Offering interns cash, once rare, has become a necessity for many

Kasi Rupert, a 20-year-old student at Coe College, joined Beto O'Rourke's campaign after seeing him speak at an event in Cedar Rapids. But when Rupert discovered she was a part-time volunteer, not an intern, she decided to leave.

"I really am in a position where I am financially unstable, as a college student," Rupert said in a phone interview. "I can't really spend a lot of time doing a lot of the stuff I've already done, like canvassing and knocking doors and calling people ... I was definitely looking to get a bigger opportunity, especially for the 2020 election."

For many, the possibility of interning without pay makes it hard or impossible for them to participate seriously in politics.

"A lot of people ... will never get into politics because they don’t have the time," Olivia Habinck, president of the College and Young Democrats of Iowa, said. "If (campaigns) offer paid internships, we can open that door for the people who often miss out because of financial reasons."

Paying political interns is a relatively new phenomenon. In the 2016 race, Sanders was the only candidate to pay his interns. He offered $10.10 an hour, according to a 2015 Washington Post column. What set Sanders apart in the last general election would be sub-par in this cycle.

Vera, of Pay Our Interns, believes that there’s been a “tectonic shift” on the issue of intern payment.

“Back in 2016, when I was an intern, being paid wasn’t really on the table because no one talked about it," Habinck said. "Bringing awareness to it is causing campaigns to look more into it and pay their interns.”

In fact, during recent appearances at the Des Moines Register's Political Soapbox at the Iowa State Fair, several presidential candidates were asked whether they would push to make intern payment mandatory.

The unionization of campaign staffers represents another major change in the 2020 race. The campaigns of Booker, Castro, Warren and Sanders are unionized. Interns on Sanders' and Booker's campaigns are part of the union and eligible for health benefits. The Warren and Castro campaigns did not respond to requests for comment on whether their interns were included in unions.

Sarah Willenbrink-Sahin is an executive council member at the Campaign Workers Guild, an organization dedicated to ensuring campaign workers' labor rights.

"If you’re an intern that’s working for a couple of months, that’s not too much different from, maybe, a field organizer who’s working for a couple of months. You should still have that protection and that representation of a union," Willenbrink-Sahin said.

She credits the changing attitudes toward unions to workers, who "are starting to really realize it can be different." Campaigns "historically have tended to burn and churn workers," she said, "(but now) there is an awakening of campaign workers to see their power as a unit.”

Katie Akin and Clare Ulmer are politics reporters for the Register. Reach Katie at kakin@registermedia.com or at 515-284-8041. Reach Clare at culmer@registermedia.com or at 515-284-8724.

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