Election season is here again, and the various competitions look especially tight this year.
Despite an absence of a field of candidates that’s known widely around campus, all of those running for office appear qualified for the offices they seek. Each has a solid background of involvement in various USC bodies, and the vast majority of them have extensive leadership or service experience.
What this means, roughly, is that we’re in for some very tough races.
In the running for president are two Student Government veterans, Lindsay Richardson and Chris Sumpter, along with third-year political science major Jameson Broggi, the only student running for executive office who hasn’t had ties to SG.
To be honest, it’s refreshing to see political contenders from outside Student Government circles. It opens up the candidate pool to perspectives and areas of interest uncommon to those fluent in the operations of SG.
While it is essential for any elected official to have political experience, we must remember that the student body president is just that: an elected representative of the entire school.
One doesn’t need to be a high-level political operator to run for an office that is supposed to represent everybody (although it certainly helps). No, the only requirements are to have logged enough credit hours and to be in good standing in one’s college.
So, why do so few students outside of SG choose to run?
Simple interest can provide a possible answer. Those who run for president are usually interested in politics, which tends to increase the probability that they will have participated in SG in the past.
Another answer is simple knowledge of election procedure. How many potential candidates didn’t sign up simply because they didn’t know they could run? While SG has made good efforts to make its deadlines widely known, more could be done to publicize these important dates.
Don’t get us wrong: This year’s election has plenty of qualified candidates.
We only wish more of the student body, from more parts of campus, would seek to run for office.