Spring Break
A.S. campaigns begin with no caps on spending
John Myers
Daily Staff Writer
- Page 1 of 1
"As far as financing (campaigns) goes, it's up to the candidate," said Alberto Gutierrez, chief elections officer for San Jose State University's Election Board. "There's no limit, and it's all up to the individual and how much money they want to put into the campaign."
The Election Regulation Manual available on the Student Life and Leadership Web site does not contain any information about how campaigns are funded, Gutierrez said.
Huy Tran, who is running for A.S. president with the Independent Party, said he opposes campaign finance limitations in the Election Regulation Manual.
"There were proposals to include sections on campaign finance reform," Tran said. "Part of the proposal was that only students can donate to political campaigns. I am opposed to that (proposal) because of our nature as students - we receive money from outside sources."
Gutierrez said each opposed candidate receives an account with $20 for use at the A.S. Print Shop in order to help with campaigning. These accounts will be available for use as of today, Gutierrez said.
"(This money) is budgeted from the A.S.," Gutierrez said. "There are 14 individuals on the list (to receive an account)."
Campus elections are scheduled for March 23 and 24.
Candidates who are running unopposed must finance their campaigns completely independently, Gutierrez said.
Tran said he will be providing his own funds for his campaign but said he has also received donations from friends and family. Tran would not comment on how much money he plans to spend during this election, but he said he had spent hundreds of dollars in last year's election.
"It's so expensive to campaign," Tran said. "Last year cost over $300, and that was just for one candidate. In years before, campaigning reached into the thousands. And that's out of individual choice."
Rachel Greathouse, A.S. presidential candidate for the Spartan Party, said members of the party run as a group, not as individual candidates., and share funds.
Greathouse, who is also the current A.S. controller, said if a Spartan Party candidate is running opposed, that candidate might be inclined to contribute more money to their task in the campaign. Otherwise, funding can vary.
"We try to make (the funding) equal out," Greathouse said. "(The amount) is different every year. One year we might decide on a poster, and others we might not."
Greathouse said the Spartan Party has to replace posters sometimes because of various circumstances.
"This year we've had to replace a few posters, not so much because of vandalism, but because of the weather," Greathouse said.
The wind has knocked down some of the Spartan Party's posters, Greathouse said.
"In the past, there has been vandalism," Greathouse said. "We haven't seen that for the last two years, though. Sometimes there is more (vandalism) after the weekend, but we haven't seen it this year."
The Independent Party is far less organized, Tran said.
"We haven't been communicating with each other in a party sense," Tran said. "Each candidate is doing their own thing. If we support each other or support other people, it's OK."
Tran said the Independent Party was formed in order to allow independent candidates to compete with the same privileges as Spartan Party candidates.
"It's not a real party," Tran said. "We wanted to take advantage of the (Election Regulation Manual) which favors parties."
Tran said the Election Regulation Manual allows parties to replace candidates who resign with another member of the party and place an extra poster promoting the party in campaigning zones.
There are currently three candidates running as part of the Independent Party, and there are 15 Spartan Party candidates running for offices.
The third presidential candidate, who is not affiliated with any party, is Jassim Ubaid. Attempts made by the Spartan Daily to get Ubaid's contact information were unsuccessful.
