Ziya Kardas (left), a graduate business student and Lexi Germaise (right), a senior marketing major, are running uncontested in USF St. Petersburg’s 2016 student body presidential election.
Because he drew no opposition, Ziya Kardas is poised to become the next president of the student body.
Kardas, a graduate student in business, and running mate Alexis Germaise, a senior in marketing, will be the only names on the ballot when voting begins Feb. 29 and ends at 7 p.m. March 3.
They will be elected if 51 percent of the voters say “yes” to their candidacy. If they receive less than that, the process would be reopened for a new round of candidate submissions.
Also on this week’s ballot are 10 candidates for 15 positions on the student Senate. Each voter can vote for three candidates.
A candidate must receive at least 30 votes to be elected, said Alyssa Winston, student government’s supervisor of elections. If some candidates fall short of that, it means the Senate will have more vacant seats.
Three senators are up for re-election. They are junior Natalie Guerra, sophomore Laraine Ruiz and sophomore Emilie Morris.
Newcomers on the Senate ballot are senior Anthony Cook, sophomore Elisa Duka, junior Albert Moreno, junior Sasha Rambo, senior Scott Mange and freshman Miranda Latimer.
The winners will be announced March 3 at the annual Miracle Dance Marathon in the University Student Center.
In recent years, student elections have received scant attention on campus.
In last year’s presidential election, only 536 students voted in the first round and 660 in the runoff. USFSP enrollment is 6,774, but fewer than 600 students live on campus.
Kardas, who lost to Jozef Gherman in the runoff last year, expressed disappointment that he and Germaise did not draw opponents.
He said he had hoped for a race like last year, when he was one of four presidential candidates.
Kardas, who is from St. Petersburg, is the vice chairman of appropriations in the Senate. He is active with the Offshore Sailing Team and Student Green Energy Fund and serves as a voting member of the Capital Improvement Trust Fund Committee.
Kardas said he recently worked with Kyle Uber, his running mate last year, to form an American Sign Language club on campus.
If students confirm his presidency this week, he said, he and Germaise “would like to expand on the meal plan. This involves us looking into options such as increasing the amount students may spend at venues like The Tavern.”
Kardas said they also “want to look further into the renegotiation of, or alternatives to, the Sodexo contract because it will be up during our term.”
Kardas and Germaise also want to help students build toward careers by improving awareness of the Career Center and providing “workshops, networking opportunities and resume building,” he said.
Germaise, who is from Tampa, is a member in Delta Sigma Pi, a coed professional fraternity on campus. She has held multiple positions, including senior vice president and marketing chair.
She was in charge of the kick off-event as part of her position on the Homecoming Committee on the Harborside Activities Board.
Off campus, she said, she has worked at Metropolitan Ministries, taught English to children in Romania and helped rebuild houses in three states.
“I believe that my leadership experience and years on campus will make me the perfect vice president for USFSP,” she said.
