How She Got That Internship: Karly’s Internship For Karin Housley’s Campaign For US Senate

How She Got That Internship is a series that highlights conservative women’s internships in various organizations and positions to inspire the next generation of conservative women to lead. Did you, or a young woman that you know, have an internship experience you want to share with our readers? Submit it in this form and we will contact you if we think it would be a great fit for the series. 

Summer is perhaps the best time for young leaders to invest in themselves by gaining valuable work experience, namely through internships. As summer comes to a close and fall looms ahead, FFL is sitting down with a number interns to reflect on this year’s highlights and encourage more young leaders to apply for next year’s internships.

Karly Hahn is a sophomore at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota where she the president of the local College Republicans chapter. At St. Thomas, Karly is working to obtain degrees in political science and public policy economics. She loves to be as involved as possible in politics with her busy schedule, so she tries my hardest to search for internships that will keep her occupied and engaged. Karly has interned at the Minnesota Senate and on the Housley for US Senate campaign, and will soon begin an internship at the Heritage Foundation. In her free time, Karly enjoys reading, working out, and binge watching Scandal and Parks & Rec.

How did you find out about the position, and why did you decide to apply?

I found out about this position by a posting on social media. It was late August, and the campaign was looking for more help as they had a lot of summer interns who were leaving. What attracted me to apply for this internship was the candidate. I had vaguely followed her work beforehand, but as people began to talk about her candidacy I began to follow it more and more closely. I even ended up writing a piece on her for FFL! When I saw this internship opening, I knew I could not pass up applying.

What was the driving force behind choosing to work at as a US Senate campaign intern?

The driving force behind my choosing to intern for the Housley for Senate Campaign was the dynamite candidate that I would get to work for, the momentum that the campaign was gaining, and the awesome team that I had heard so much about. With nothing negative in my way, I decided to go for it!

Have you interned before? If so, where?

Yes, I interned at the Minnesota Senate Republican Caucus for the spring semester of my freshman year.

Describe a typical day at your internship.

A typical day at my internship consisted of your classic intern work like mail, letters, and so on. On the weekends, there would be parades all around the state that we would go to walk in and campaign. As the election got closer, we got to attend debates and community events.

What has been the most rewarding aspect of working for a Senate campaign?

The most rewarding aspect of my internship on the campaign was probably the connections I made and the relationships I built. Campaigns can get long and hard, but the people that were on Team Housley were like no other. By the time the election came around, we were like a family.

What was the biggest WOW moment of your internship?

The biggest WOW moment of my internship was realizing how hard of work campaigning really is. Not only that, Karin was the hardest worker that I have ever come across. The weekend before the election, the campaign team, along with other statewide candidates, traveled all over Minnesota non-stop to reach as many voters as possible. When I say all over Minnesota- I’m not kidding! We traveled 1,454 miles over 44 hours and visited 18 cities. We held rallies all night long (11:30 pm, 1:30 am, 4:30 am, etc…), and people showed up in numbers to all of them! This experience was a huge WOW moment for me because it showed me how hard every single person on the campaign really worked, how committed they were, and how much they really cared. Not only that, it showed me how much people around the state cared.

Looking back over your time in the internship, what’s been the most valuable lesson you’ve learned as a result of your time working for the campaign?

The most valuable lesson that I learned in my time at my internship was that no matter how hard you work, how committed you are, and how confident you are, you may come up short, and there’s nothing you can do about it. Even though the Housley Campaign gained national attention and there was a lot of talk about a potential ‘upset’, the numbers did not reflect it. This also taught me to not get discouraged. Minnesota is a very blue state, so it is not surprising that Democrats nearly swept us, but instead of getting upset about it I have learned that it just means there is room for improvement and growth.

Would you apply to work for a Senate campaign again, and what advice would you give to future applicants?

Yes, I would definitely apply again! If I had to give advice to future applicants, I would tell them to stay positive and meet as many people as you can. Campaigns are unique because people from all different backgrounds jump on to help, and it is rare that you find that somewhere else!

How She Got That Internship is a series that highlights conservative women’s internships in various organizations and positions to inspire the next generation of conservative women to lead. Did you, or a young woman that you know, have an internship experience you want to share with our readers? Submit it in this form and we will contact you if we think it would be a great fit for the series.