Campaigning heats up in final stretch

As online polls for the USG elections opened at noon yesterday, candidates made their final efforts to secure their classmates' votes, winding down a week marked by unusually intense campaigning for the presidency of the rising senior class.

The race pits incumbent Grant Gittlin '08 — who ran unopposed for the last two years — against challengers Aaron Spolin '08 and Tom Haine '08. Opportunities given to the senior class president include a role in selecting the Class Day speaker, a speaking slot at graduation, access to more funds for the class and what some see as an advantage in running for the position of Young Alumni Trustee.

Other contested election races include those for Class of 2009 and Class of 2010 president, Class of 2008 social chair, and Class of 2010 vice president and treasurer. Ten U-Council seats are being sought by 20 candidates.

USG vice president Josh Weinstein '09, the elections manager, said campaigning last week was heavy. "By having a lot of competition in a contested election, there's a definite level of intensity that there's not when the candidates are unopposed," he said. "Whenever you have an opponent, that raises the bar."

Door-to-door efforts have figured prominently in the race for senior class president. This strategy, Haine said in an email, has taken up 90 percent of his campaigning time.

Spolin said knocking on doors has helped him connect with voters and increase his prominence. "Fewer people know me than know the incumbent's name, so I have to work harder," he said.

Gittlin, who has been president of the Class of 2008 for three years and ran unsuccessfully for USG president last December, provided the junior class with a particularly goodie-filled past few days, informing students of the study breaks, free massages and other perks he had planned in an email Monday titled "BIG WEEK!!!"

"I have a strong record of getting things done on USG," Gittlin said in an email, "so I can focus on actual results and future projects that are grounded in experience."

Spolin, though, said he has sensed discontent within the junior class that has boosted his and Haine's candidacies.

"Many times people have interrupted me and said, 'Thank you for running with these new ideas because I don't know what our class government has done this past year,' " Spolin said. He ran against Gittlin for class president their freshman year, winning the most votes in the initial election but losing in the runoff to Gittlin.

Haine echoed Spolin's sentiment on his website, where he promises to "devote all [his] extracurricular energy" to organizing class events. "Students want a president who performs — who spends all the money the University gives him, and concentrates on the class," he said.

Students' inboxes were also barraged with multiple messages from candidates and their supporters last week. In some cases, candidates have even personalized their messages, including each recipient's name in the salutation and referring to instances when they may have met.

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Email campaigning comes with restrictions, however. Candidates and their supporters must send all campaign emails in blind carbon copy form. Weinstein said he has received fewer than 10 reports of violations, however.

When Weinstein receives such a report, he said, he is required to give eight penalty points to the accused candidate. If a candidate receives 10 or more penalty points, his name and biography are removed from the USG elections website, though the candidate is not eliminated from the race.

In contrast to the '08 candidates' feverish campaigning, the Class of 2009 presidential election has been relatively laid-back, the candidates said.

Class of 2009 president Grant Bermann '09 said that since he is the incumbent, his campaign has been "more low-key than last year," since he spends more time organizing events than running a high-stakes campaign. "I'm focusing more on doing my job than my role as a candidate," he said.

Jay Thornton '09, Bermann's opponent, said he has also noticed complacency among the electorate while campaigning door-to-door. "It seems to really be a step down in intensity," he said.

Class of 2010 presidential candidate Bobby Addis '10, who is running against incumbent Connor Diemand-Yauman '10 and Kelly Tran '10, has also noticed low voter interest. As a candidate, "you have to get people interested," he added. "It's not the sort of thing where they're seeking you out."

Voting ends Tuesday at noon.