The freshman student senator election race began Monday evening, where approximately 30 freshmen gathered at the mandatory information session to learn more about the position and election guidelines.
Monday evening’s session covered election basics: when and where freshmen will vote, rules for campaigning and forms candidates need to turn in. Senate Membership Chair Roza Essaw did not discuss all of the guidelines, however, choosing to focus on a few main points.
“Make sure you read the election code,” Essaw told the freshmen. “Ignorance of the law is no excuse.”
There are five open seats for first-year senators. The five candidates who garner the most votes will fill those seats.
Student Body President Jake Torres told the freshmen candidates that losing the election would not necessarily be the end of the road in senate careers for the freshman.
“I actually ran for first-year senator my first year and got destroyed,” Torres said. “I think I got like 10 votes or something. So even if you don’t win, that’s totally fine. You can still be involved in Senate later on.”
Candidates will campaign until the voting period begins Sept. 8. Only freshmen can vote for first-year senators.
“[The election] sounds really exciting,” first-year senator candidate Anthony McAuliffe said. “It looks like a lot of people are really interested in it, and they want to do it, but some people have already dropped out.”
McAuliffe is from Keller, Texas. He doesn’t have a definite campaign plan right now but said he’s thought about creating buttons and posters. Fellow candidate, Jaimmy Koroma, of Allen, Texas is thinking about making cupcakes to hand out.
“I’m a little intimidated; there’s a lot of people [running],” she said. “But I’m also excited. I think the campaigning process is going to be a lot of fun. So I just hope I can get it, so I can work with, you know, a lot of people to make our campus great.”
Freshman Jeff Whelan, a candidate from Manhattan Beach, Calif., is making sure his campaign strategy takes into account the large number of candidates.
“There’s a big number of us, so I think getting out name recognition, making sure everyone votes and campaigning to the maximum will be very important,” Whelan said.
First-year candidate Parminder Deo, from Richardson, Texas., doesn’t have a campaign strategy.
“The thrill of campaigning is always fun,” Deo said. “I wish everyone the best of luck. Everyone has an equal chance, so yeah. I bet everyone else has a campaign strategy but me, so we’ll see how it goes.”
