Voting for the runoff election between (left to right) Nathan Poinsette and Kaiya Huggins on one ticket and Sean Schrader and Joshua Rampertab on the other will be held March 8 through 9.
Courtesy of Aubrey Carr | The Crow’s Nest
By Molly Ryan
For the first time as a consolidated organization, Student Government (SG) at the University of South Florida will be holding a runoff election to settle the winners for the St. Petersburg campus’ gubernatorial tickets.
Three tickets ran for St. Petersburg’s next governor and lieutenant governor, respectively, in this year’s SG general election — Kenneth “Kenny” Bright and Zackery Morales, Nathan Poinsette and Kaiya Huggins and Sean Schrader and Joshua Rampertab.
However, only Poinsette, Huggins, Schrader and Rampertab will advance to the runoff election — which will be held starting March 8, ending at 11:59 the next day — giving the tickets an opportunity to showcase their ambitions once again to the students of St. Petersburg.
In SG’s general election, Poinsette and Huggins gained the highest percentage of votes at 43%. However, they could not be declared the winners as they did not receive the required 51% majority.
“We are feeling beyond blessed to have a spot in the runoff [election] and are super grateful for everyone that has shown us support and believes in us and our mission,” the Poinsette and Huggins ticket said to The Crow’s Nest. “Knowing that we have made connections with students and have gained their trust for them to vote us into this position makes me feel grateful and thankful to them.”
Poinsette and Huggins credited much of their success in the general election to making connections with students through ongoing and active communication.
Schrader and Rampertab came second to their opponents with 33% percent of the vote.
“We’ve had a lot of fun sharing our vision for USF St. Pete’s future with so many students, and we are looking forward to continuing that going into the runoff election,” the Schrader and Rampertab ticket said to The Crow’s Nest. “It’s really a privilege for both of us, especially as our campaign has centered around uniting students from different backgrounds. The support we’ve received demonstrates that our message is sticking, and we will continue to push that message.”
Both tickets expressed that they would be using the extra time before the final vote to further connect with students and reiterate their goals.
“This week, we will continue to spread that message, as well as our top focuses including initiating a recycling awareness campaign of what’s recyclable and what’s not, focusing on improving student services of parking, housing, and dining and furthering opportunities for students to be involved in St. Petersburg, like more student discounts offered by local businesses,” said the Schrader and Rampertab ticket.
Poinsette and Huggins expressed that they would continue to “talk to as many students as possible.”
“We try to be very vocal on the things we want to see change,” said the Poinsette and Huggins ticket. “We feel as if many students share the concerns we have about campus dining, involvement, and transparency of our student government. We want to talk with as many students as we can and hear what they want to see change so we can ensure we do that if we are elected in.”
Both tickets shared the sentiment that, if elected, they will work to advocate for students.
“We are going to focus on how we actually achieve specific changes that will impact all students if we’re fortunate to win,” said the Schrader and Rampertab ticket. “At the end of the day, our message is that student government must work for all students, not just for us.”
“We truly want to hear anything the students want to see change so we can serve our fellow bulls in the best way we can,” said the Poinsette and Huggins ticket. “[SG] is for the students. Therefore, if elected it will not be a ‘position of power’ rather, we want to be your voice and change the things our fellow bulls wish to see changed.”
