With five weeks until the Student Association general election, four students have declared their candidacy for president.
SA presidential candidates include juniors David "Tito" Wilkinson, a promoter for Jumpoff Productions; Casey Pond, director of the SA Dining Services Commission; SA Sen. Marc Abanto (U-At Large); and Michael Ray Huerta, a former Colonial Inauguration cabinet member.
Although the pool of candidates is smaller, presidential hopefuls Pond and Abanto do not foresee any changes from past SA elections.
"I don't think it will have much of an effect on the campaign," said Pond, who ran for SA president last year. "However, we still have a few more weeks for students to declare candidacies."
More students may declare candidacy for SA president before the mid-Febuary deadline, but they must first receive 2 percent of the student body's signatures to appear on the ballot, which is approximately 400 signatures.
In addition to fewer presidential candidates, there also are also fewer slates, or pseudo- parties in which candidates for the various offices run together. During the past two SA elections, slates have increased in number and influence compared to previous years.
Abanto, who is running on the GW Student Union slate, and Huerta are the only candidates to announce that they will be running with a ticket of other candidates this year. Wilkinson said he is unsure if he will be starting a slate, but is "keeping his options open."
The SA slate appeared in 2005 with presidential candidate Ben Traverse's Coalition for Reform. In 2006, a majority of candidates ran on slates including The College Party, GWUnited and Real GW, which were led by SA presidential candidates junior Nick D'Addario, junior Elliot Rozenberg and senior Morgan P. Corr, respectively.
While deciding whether to form a slate, the presidential candidates have also made decisions on their running mates for SA executive vice president.
SA presidential candidates include juniors David "Tito" Wilkinson, a promoter for Jumpoff Productions; Casey Pond, director of the SA Dining Services Commission; SA Sen. Marc Abanto (U-At Large); and Michael Ray Huerta, a former Colonial Inauguration cabinet member.
Although the pool of candidates is smaller, presidential hopefuls Pond and Abanto do not foresee any changes from past SA elections.
"I don't think it will have much of an effect on the campaign," said Pond, who ran for SA president last year. "However, we still have a few more weeks for students to declare candidacies."
More students may declare candidacy for SA president before the mid-Febuary deadline, but they must first receive 2 percent of the student body's signatures to appear on the ballot, which is approximately 400 signatures.
In addition to fewer presidential candidates, there also are also fewer slates, or pseudo- parties in which candidates for the various offices run together. During the past two SA elections, slates have increased in number and influence compared to previous years.
Abanto, who is running on the GW Student Union slate, and Huerta are the only candidates to announce that they will be running with a ticket of other candidates this year. Wilkinson said he is unsure if he will be starting a slate, but is "keeping his options open."
The SA slate appeared in 2005 with presidential candidate Ben Traverse's Coalition for Reform. In 2006, a majority of candidates ran on slates including The College Party, GWUnited and Real GW, which were led by SA presidential candidates junior Nick D'Addario, junior Elliot Rozenberg and senior Morgan P. Corr, respectively.
While deciding whether to form a slate, the presidential candidates have also made decisions on their running mates for SA executive vice president.
