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USG spring elections candidates spike

The number of candidates for the USG spring elections has nearly doubled after the filing deadline for three open positions was extended from Monday to Wednesday. Five candidates are running for Class of 2012 treasurer and for Class of 2013 vice president, and the number of candidates for the 10 U-Councilor openings jumped from nine to 22.

Several of the new candidates and USG president Michael Yaroshefsky ’12 said that the surge was likely caused by students who had been reluctant to campaign but changed their minds, thinking that they would be able to run unopposed.

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Yet with many students reasoning along the same lines, the new candidates now face the three most crowded contests on the ballot.

“It makes sense,” said Tulio Burgos ’12, one of the new candidates for U-Council. “If everyone thinks, ‘Oh, there’s only one spot left, I’ll just sign up and I’ll be a U-Councilor,’ you’re probably not the only person who thinks that.”

The number of filings surprised some other candidates.

“I didn’t actually think that many people would sign up,” said Katlin Poladian ’12, another U-Councilor hopeful. “But once an opportunity is presented, it’s like free money on the ground.”

Poladian added that she initially planned to file her candidacy petition before the original deadline but did not do so after she missed the mandatory candidate meetings.

Yaroshefsky noted in an e-mail that students demonstrated a “remarkable amount of interest in the positions affected by the deadline extension,” adding that the 23 new candidates represent only some of those who expressed interest in running.

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“Quite a few prospective candidates said they would run only if nobody else had already registered for a certain vacant position,” he explained. “It seems to imply that many people are interested but that campaigning is a barrier to entry. Furthermore, running against an incumbent for class government office is an understandably intimidating proposition.”

Candidates who had already registered said they viewed the extra competition positively.

“I welcome competition because it means there are people who want to represent students and want to work,” said Carter Greenbaum ’12, a current U-Councilor running for reelection.

John Allen Zumpetta ’11, also an incumbent U-Councilor, said that the wave of additional candidates reflects higher approval for the USG under the leadership of Yaroshefsky and former USG president Connor Diemand-Yauman ’10.

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“I think a lot of people weren’t receptive to the Weinstein administration,” he said, referring to the USG presidency of Josh Weinstein ’09.

“In the future, as long as the USG keeps its credibility high, there’ll be a lot better and more contested races,” he added.

Of the 13 new candidates for U-Councilor, Alex Pretko ’12 is the only incumbent. 

Some candidates said that they hoped to bring fresh perspectives to student government.

“It seems like the people who are in the USG have been there since freshman year,” Burgos said, adding that students who run for office after spending time outside of student government “have concrete things they want to change.”

For the class government openings, incumbent officers Austin Hollimon ’12 and Gabby Cole ’13 each filed for reelection only after the deadline was extended. These filings bring the number of current class officers seeking reelection to 14. Only Class of 2013 secretary Alice Su is not seeking to retain her position.

The only other newly listed candidate is Cameron Hough, who is running for reelection as Class of 2013 social chair. Jamie Joseph was originally listed as running unopposed for the position when, in fact, Hough had also filed to run by the initial deadline.

“Cameron had registered by the first deadline, but there was an issue where her submitted forms were not recorded,” Yaroshefsky said in an e-mail on Monday. “Once the issue was clarified, she was added to the spreadsheet.”

The other new candidates for U-Councilor are Amy Ridgeway ’12, Bennett Bernstein ’12, Nikki Garcia ’13, Jay Parikh ’12, Will Harrel ’13, Christiana Renfro ’13, Casey Marek ’13, Sarah Cornfeld ’11, Emalee Hall ’13 and Stephanie Park ’13. Ridgeway is a copy editor and Bernstein is a staff writer for The Daily Princetonian. 

The other new candidates for Class of 2012 treasurer are Ellen Chu, Laura Pederson, Peter Favaloro and Erick Kazarian.

The other new candidates for Class of 2013 vice president are Alex Gerson, Stefan Kende, Kevin Mantel and Miguel Vargas.