Serving The University Of Texas At Austin Community Since 1900 @thedailytexan | thedailytexan.com
Monday, March 9, 2020
Volume 120, Issue 116
race to the finish line Student Government executive alliance elections happen every year, but what does it take to run? emma overholt
By Chad Lyle @lylechad
mie Jean was running late to her own celebration. Last spring, on her way to find out whether she was elected UT’s next student body vice president, Jean stopped to turn in a scholarship application. Meanwhile members of her campaign team were anxiously wondering if their hard work had paid off. Jean arrived at the event just after news of her victory was announced, and she instantly became one of the most influential leaders on campus. Student Government has existed as an organization at UT since 1902, and executive alliance campaigns — the race to become president and vice president of the student body — have consistently attracted controversy and served as
microcosms of political issues at state and national levels. With thousands of dollars in funding and direct access to administrators, executive alliances wield lots of power over UT’s campus culture. In the weeks leading up to voting, students are bombarded with candidates’ social media posts, and campaign signs are plastered across campus. But rarely do students see what goes on behind the scenes of running a campaign. THE RUNNING MATE
Running a successful campaign starts with selecting the right running mate. Jean was elected alongside Camron Goodman as the first allBlack duo to lead SG. But she said she once doubted two Black students could win an election to represent a majority white student body. “My freshman year, I thought if I was going to win, my running mate had to be white, and probably a white male,” Jean said. “I think it becomes about details you can point to instead
of what it’s actually about — which is student life — when it comes to the nuances of public opinion.” Jean said ultimately public opinion did not play a large role in her decision to run as a ticket with Goodman. But Sean Tucker, an unsuccessful candidate in this year’s election, said public opinion did factor into his decision to ask Suseth Muñoz, a Latinx woman, to be his running mate. Tucker said the decision was not about pandering for votes, but rather to give his campaign credibility to speak about certain issues. “I didn’t necessarily want to be the one speaking to these organizations saying, ‘Yes, I’m this 6-foot man who’s never had to feel threatened at a party or walking home alone, and let me tell you about what my solution is,’” Tucker said.
THE LAUNCH
According to rules set by the Election Supervisory Board, candidates are only allowed to campaign for a
two-week period before voting begins. It has become tradition in recent years for campaigns to “launch” online at midnight on the first day of campaigning. The social media rollout is the first real chance for campaigns to demonstrate their competence and is considered a vital first impression. Isabella Fanucci, who campaigned unsuccessfully alongside Elena Ivanova in 2019, said her team pulled their launch together relatively last minute. While many campaigns start planning their runs as early as fall of the previous year, she and Ivanova decided to run a week before the filing deadline, Fanucci said. “(At midnight the day campaigning began), we sat in a room together and all of us began reaching out to the entire student body,” Fanucci said in an email. “We had a long uphill battle ahead of us and it had just begun.” Jean largely credits her campaign’s successful launch
to a video released on the first day of campaigning that immediately generated positive buzz for her campaign. “We did something here,” Jean said of the video. “You’ve got ‘Spider-Verse’ vibes, you’ve got Cory Booker vibes.”
THE MONEY
Debates over appropriate uses of campaign funds and the role of money in campaigning are as much an issue in student elections as they are in national politics. In some cases, missteps in this department can prove detrimental to a campaign. Each executive alliance campaign is only allowed to spend $511 over the course of the race. When campaigns are fined for election rule violations, these fines are deducted from the $511 total. This year, a campaign was disqualified for exceeding their budget due to fines. Hopefuls Connor Alexander and Camille Johnson were initially fined for releasing campaign materials that were
/ the daily texan staff
not approved by the Election Supervisory Board — a regulation that other campaigns have complained is tedious and overbearing. The fine for releasing unapproved materials amounted to 28% of Alexander and Johnson’s budget. After their team received another fine of 5% for early campaigning, they were disqualified for overspending. Alexander did not respond to The Daily Texan’s request for comment. THE ENDORSEMENT
During every election cycle, The Daily Texan editorial board, a body independent of the newsroom, endorses the executive alliance it sees as best suited to lead the student body. This is a significant mile marker in the race and an important source of advertising for whichever campaign receives it. When the board endorsed Goodman and Jean’s campaign instead of Fanucci and Ivanova’s in 2019, they F I N I S H L I N E PAGE 3
STUDENT GOVERNMENT
Anagha and Winston elected student body president, vice president By Anna Canizales @annaleonorc
Anagha Kikkeri and Winston Hung will serve as next year’s student body president and vice president. The executive alliance won by 111 votes out of 7,609 ballots cast through a single transferable system. This was the second time the single transferable system was used in student elections after it was approved in February 2018. The executive alliance and student representatives were elected through a ranked system that eliminated the candidate in last place every round. Government junior Kikkeri said their next step is to discuss how to move forward with Student Government and University administration. “I’m so honored and grateful that people trust us to do this and implement our policies,” Kikkeri said. “(Now) we’re going to follow the steps we outlined in our policy papers for implementation.” In the last round of rankings, Kikkeri and Hung won with a total of 3,240 total votes. Simona Harry and
Lynn Huynh came in second place, with a total of 3,129 votes. Harry and Huynh were the candidates with the highest number of first-choice votes at 2,578. Kikkeri and Hung were the candidates with the second-highest number of firstchoice votes at 2,552. Hung, a chemical engineering and finance junior, said they plan to follow through with their campaign slogan, “What It Takes.” “If you asked me half a year ago if this was something that was going to happen, I would have to see it to believe it,” Hung said. “I love that we were able to create the best team possible. Win or lose, we did the best that we could.” Kikkeri and Hung said their plans include creating a committee for students living in Riverside, establishing culturally centered study spaces, increasing the number of confidential advocates in the Title IX office and implementing an orientation program on Title IX resources. John Austin Gerling and Ashna Kumar were named to the University Unions board of directors. Matthew Kenny was selected to be the Texas Student Media at-large board member.
jack myer
/ the daily texan staff
Student Body Vice President Winston Hung hugs Tony Wen, a member of the campaign’s voter outreach team, while Student Body President Anagha Kikkeri celebrates their election on Friday in the William C. Powers, Jr. Student Activity Center. The next editor-in-chief of The Daily Texan will be Emily Caldwell.
The University-wide representatives will be Ryan Chandler, Luis
R E S U LT S
SKY-HIGH
PAGE 2
SPRING BREAK $ $50 50
off off
in in March! March!
1-800 1-800 SKYDIVE SKYDIVE