Running for student government requires time, energy, and unless student government President Tayler Clough has his way, roughly $10,000 per party.
Although not technically required, $10,000 is the maximum amount that parties are allowed to spend, and campaigners have typically felt the need to spend as much as possible in order to be competitive. The result, from the standpoint of Clough and his administration, are costs and fundraising demands so exorbitant that many students may be discouraged from running altogether.
“It’s just colossal, it really is,” Clough said. “I don’t think that gives students that are working or everyday students the ability to be a part of elections.”
Clough said he hopes to lower the overall spending limit to $6,500 and drop individual requirements for the Associated Students of the University of Utah Assembly and Senate candidates from $75 to $50 and from $150 to $100, respectively. For president and vice president, Clough plans to set the limit at $1,200, down from the current requirement of $1,800.
“I would rather have candidates and the people that are running be able to focus more on the issues on campus than to focus on who is going to be (their) next donor,” he said.
Clint Hugie, who ran for ASUU president last year with the Synergy party, said that his campaign felt pressure to raise the maximum amount allowed to be competitive and was consequently forced to focus more on fundraising than on getting out the vote in the final months of the election.
“That was one of the biggest barriers that I had,” Hugie said. “I didn’t have a wealthy family that could help me.”
Clough and his administration, which spent around $9,800 on their campaign, looked at the budget for a typical campaign and saw areas such as posters and banners where new limits could be imposed to lower the overall cost without significantly altering election turnout.
In addition to the new fundraising restrictions, Clough said he also plans to reduce the number of posters and banners allowed on campus, in some cases by as much as half, in order to reduce the amount of money candidates feel the need to spend.
Hugie said he supports Clough’s initiative both because it would reduce waste related to campaigns and take some of the focus off flashy advertisements, which he said might determine the votes of students who are not familiar with the beliefs of different candidates and parties.
Clough’s administration looked at fundraising limits at other colleges around the country and found that the U’s limits are nearly 10 times those at other schools, Clough said. He cited Utah State University as an example, where the limit is around $400.
Pace Johnson, who ran for ASUU president last year with the GO party, said he neither directly supports or opposes Clough’s proposal, but said fundraising is one way that a campaign is able to demonstrate its ability to organize and function effectively.
“Running a campaign is kind of like the interview, application process for a job8212;it’s demanding,” Johnson said. “And one of the most demanding aspects of that is fundraising.”