After a slow start, campaigning began in full force Tuesday with both candidates and their supporters reaching out to students on Taylor Mall.
Candidates were allowed to begin their campaigns on March 26, but presidential candidate Erika Green didn’t have supplies ready in time, and USGD President Joseph Grossman didn’t have time to prepare because he was sick for several weeks prior.
Both candidates said their campaigns would pick up in the coming week. Green said her campaign would be out on Taylor Mall between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. every day, while Grossman said he and his supporters should have a presence on campus from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Green began talking to students on Taylor Mall Thursday, asking them what they thought could be better about the campus.
Green said her campaign is different than Grossman’s because she wants to focus more on what students want to do together and less on what one person has done for the campus.
“I’m not intimidated of him, even though he’s been in office for a year,” Green said. “It’s easy to list the things you’ve done because you’ve been in office for a year.”
Green said she wants to run a grassroots campaign focusing on working with students on a one-on-one basis.
Her campaign supporters include members of her sorority, Gamma Phi Beta, and friends of her two vice presidents.
“We want the new phrase across the campus to be ‘we,’ ” Green said. “I just think this campus could use more collaboration. We want to know exactly what students want to change.”
Green said she is going to bring a board to Taylor Mall on Wednesday so students can write down what they want to see happen on campus. Her campaign is also going to meet with student clubs to find out what they think should be improved on campus, she said.
Grossman got a later start than Green, talking with students on Tuesday after having a campaign meeting with about 25 people the day before.
In addition, Grossman’s website, which is displayed on his signs and Facebook pictures, was not working as of Tuesday night, but he said it should be up and running Wednesday.
His campaign focuses on telling students what he’s done to fight for them on state legislation and on campus issues like textbook affordability.
“I’ve done a lot, so telling students is all that matters,” Grossman said. “You just got to go out there and shake people’s hands.”
Running as an incumbent is widely considered to be a benefit for a candidate, but Grossman said it’s difficult because he still has to do his job while campaigning.
His responsibilities include going to meetings, sending emails throughout the day and preparing for various presentations about university issues, such as tuition.
Compared to last year, Grossman said the student body is much more aware of student government and the impact it can have. He attributes this to the name change, from ASASUD to USGD, greater visibility through public relations and community initiatives.
“Going in last year, no one knew what the student government did,” Grossman said. “It’s satisfying to hear more people know about it.”
Also different from last year are student reactions, Grossman said. While many students didn’t know what the Downtown student government did when he spoke with them, Grossman said students this year have been thanking him for his work.
“This job is not a thank-you job,” Grossman said. “Ninety percent of the students don’t know what you do … so when you hear students thank you, it justifies it.”
A major problem Grossman and Andres Cano, former presidential candidiate and current Director of Parliamentary Procedures, ran into last year was election-code violations, which resulted in Grossman’s disqualification.
This year, Director of Administration Rudy Rivas said the election committee went through the entire election code, looking to clear up any sections that may have confused candidates.
One specific rule that the election code clarified was campaigning in classrooms and USGD offices.
Candidates and supporters are restricted from campaigning 30 minutes before, during or 30 minutes after classes. Supporters can still wear campaign shirts into the classroom, but actively promoting it will count as campaigning.
The election code is susceptible to violations because a lot of actions are against the rules, Rivas said.
“The people that get violations against them are people that don’t read the election code,” he said.
To avoid a similar situation to last year – when Grossman was disqualified and later re-qualified after the judicial board reversed the election committee’s decision – the election committee will require solid proof to move forward with a violation.
Hearsay will not constitute an investigation, Rivas said. To be more transparent, Rivas said violation reports would be posted online, complete with the name of the student who submits the violation.
“We’re not going to be passing out violations like candy like in past years,” he said. “It has to be 100 percent.”
Contact the reporter at connor.radnovich@asu.edu
