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Show DecLN of everyone running for office in this year's ASUU elections was associated with a party. Four Senate candidates and six Assembly candidates filed as independent. Taylor Thompson, ASUU's elections registrar, says there are pros and cons to running independent from a party. She says independent candidates receive more funding per candidate compared to the overall budget of the parties — on the other hand, she says candidates running independent tend to get less "recognition" because they do not have party members running around endorsing them. "I'm glad we have more people that feel empowered to run independently this year," Thompson says. "I think that shows that we are working toward making it more feasible for independent candidates to run:' Thompson says some candidates might have decided to run independently in order to form their own platform around ideas important to their specific college. Tamara Sanchez, an independent candidate running for an assembly seat in the College of Social and Behavioral Science says that was one reason she chose to run without affiliation with a party. "I felt that I needed to focus on my college and trying to figure out how I could help them more': Sanchez says. "Because I had different ideas on platforms that didn't necessarily coincide with the other parties, I am able to focus on my college in trying to figure out what you can do to make their experience at the U better." Sanchez says she has experienced the cons mentioned by Thompson during her campaign and that she has to go "talk to people if I want them to know what I'm about:' Anthony Minjarez, an independent Senate candidate for the College of Science, says after the Grow Party was dissolved in the primary elections he decided to file as an independent. 4 magazine BY NATHAN TURNER /STAFF WRITER n.turner@chronicle.utah.edu "I decided that I could better represent the student body by running as an independent rather than running with a party:' Minjarez says. He also says running independent of a party would be difficult, but he felt he had enough student support and recognition from the primaries to propel him in the general elections. Cindy Chen, running for a Senate seat with the College of Fine Arts, says she ran independent because she saw more opportunities to help her college that way. "It gave me the freedom to talk to the individual students in my college about specific problems': Chen says. "I don't have to worry about speaking about platforms that I didn't have a say in creating." Chen says the biggest downside about running without a party is the lack of "manpower behind you." "Your campaign is based on word of mouth, social media, and individual interactions with students:' Chen says. "It's hard to tell how effective your campaigning is going ... [but it] has been a great experience:' Rachel Wootton, a Senate candidate for the College of Mines and Earth Sciences, says she ran as an independent so she could draw up her own platform geared to her college as well. Wootton says she has had a lot of support from both Team Unite and the Vision Party during the general elections. "I would really like to be senator, and I think I have a lot of experience ... I hope that people see that and vote for me," Wootton says. "ASUU is a great organization and does a lot of really good work for students:' Candidates that filed as independent had to pay a $25 fee to run in the elections. Thompson says this fee is a deposit and the candidates will get it back after they collect the flyers they displayed across campus. Thompson says the deposit is more to ensure the cleanup process than anything else. m |