Slates allow candidates to pool ideas, funds

The costs of fliers, signboards, T-shirts and other campaign
materials can put a heavy financial strain on candidates running
for the undergraduate student government, but students who run on a
slate work together and may have an advantage over independent
candidates.

As individual campaigning officially begins today, candidates
running on both the Students First! and the Equal Access Coalition
slates plan to run collectively, sharing their money and
materials.

Presidential candidates under both slates have said any
individual campaigning will be done in the context of the
slate.

“We’re running collectively as a slate …
There’s not going to be anything that’s me and only me
running,” said Josh Lawson, a presidential candidate running
under the Equal Access Coalition.

Allende Palma/Saracho, presidential candidate for Students
First! and the current internal vice president, has said no
candidates for his slate would be running completely individual
campaigns ““ all published material will contain the names of
other Students First! candidates and the collective platform for
the slate.

Students First! also plans to pool its financial resources to
ensure that all students are able to run a successful campaign,
Palma/Saracho said.

Candidates running under the Equal Access Coalition have a
similar approach to campaign funding.

“We all sort of cover for each other. … We ask people to
do what they can,” said Lawson, also a current general
representative for the Undergraduate Students Association
Council.

This kind of group campaigning can give candidates a financial
advantage over students running as independents.

“Each candidate contributes so that we can come out with a
flier with each of us on it. … It’s going to be a lot more
cost effective,” said Mona Hassani, a candidate for internal
vice president under the Equal Access Coalition.

Slates provide candidates with a network that can enable
students to run a more successful campaign than they could as
independents.

“Some (candidates) wouldn’t be able to run without a
network. … They wouldn’t be able to run at the level they
are,” Lawson said.

Students running as independents have expressed concern that
slates have a financial advantage in that they can pool financial
resources and campaign materials.

“I think slates have a huge advantage,” said
Jonathan Cohen, an independent candidate for internal vice
president, adding that slates have a large base of support that can
help contribute to funding and publicizing their campaign.

“Every independent running this year has commented to me
about how difficult the finances are,” said Doug Ludlow, an
independent candidate for president and current president of the
Bruin Democrats.

But Ludlow said he did not believe he was personally at a
financial disadvantage as an independent candidate.

“I think I have to work harder, but the work I’ve
done has allowed me to compete on the same level, or even a higher
level,” Ludlow said, adding that he has held fund-raisers and
saved his money over the past year to finance his campaign.

Ludlow also added that he believes the advantages of running as
an independent, most importantly the ability to work fairly with
members of both slates, outweigh any financial disadvantages.

Cohen similarly said he believes he will be able to successfully
compete with slate members despite the financial disadvantage.

“I think that my ideas will make up for the lack of
funding. … I’m looking forward to running a very hard
campaign because its something I’m very passionate
about,” Cohen said, adding that he would be funding his
campaign almost entirely out of his own resources.

Many candidates, regardless of whether they are running as a
member of a slate or as an independent, have said also they will be
carrying most of the financial burden for their own campaigns.

“As of right now, we are pretty much financially on our
own,” said Anneli Villarin, a Students First! candidate for
general representative.

The primary advantage of running as a member of a slate is that
candidates can pool ideas, not that they can pool money, Villarin
added.