NEW YORK, NY March 03, 2008 —After more than a year, the Democratic contest for president appears to be reaching a climax. WNYC's Bob Hennelly is in Texas and finds New York volunteers at the center of the action.

REPORTER: Business consultant Cheryl Gerber left upstate Kingston to come to Austin to put her Spanish to work for Senator Hillary Clinton. Gerber says Clinton can quickly improve the nation's image abroad.

GERBER: Just walking in the room of a meeting in Saudi Arabia--being a female walking in the room is going to say an awful lot.

REPORTER: Twenty-four year old Ellie Berens is from Manhattan. She says only Senator Barack Obama can bring change to the country . And she says campaign work has already changed her life.

BERENS: I was going to do international development work and after doing this in South Carolina I want to focus on local issues and community organizing.

REPORTER: Gerber and Berens are among hundreds of volunteers from around the county who’ve traveled here for what may be the last act of the spirited contest.

In Austin for WNYC, I am Bob Hennelly.