The beginning of USC Student Government campaign season was marked with 13 students running for executive positions as well as some early-on accusations of campaign violations.
Candidacy filing began Monday at 9 a.m. with a sudden rush for students to put their name on the ballot. At the close of the filing period there were five candidates for president, three for vice president, two for treasurer and three for speaker of the senate.
Current Speaker of the Senate Patrick Ellis is running for president alongside vice presidential candidate Kamryn Phlegar, treasurer candidate Adger Drummond II and speaker of the senate candidate Davis Latham. This ticket was the first to be accused of a campaign violation when their campaign manager, Patrick Greene, emailed organizations about speaking opportunities to share their platforms. No candidate is permitted to publicly announce their candidacy until Feb. 12 after the mandatory candidates' meeting.
The hearing for the violation will be held at 7:30 p.m. in Sloan.
The soft campaign period begins on Feb. 12 at 9 p.m. when candidates will be permitted to publicly announce their candidacy and campaign through emails and flyers.
Hard campaigning will begin on Feb. 19 after the executive candidate debate at which time candidates can push for voters with rallies and events and distribute promotional materials.
Elections will occur over a two-day period beginning Feb. 26.
SG president candidates
Patrick Ellis
Lyric Swinton
Luke Rankin
Jacob Thompson
Casey Hamlin
SG vice president candidates
Kamryn Phlegar
Sophie Davish
Anthony Abate
SG treasurer candidates
Adger Drummond II
Kate Lewis
SG speaker of the senate
Davis Latham
Nick Hooks
Taryn Moyer