Candidates straying from major party lines in the U.S. political
system have historically found little success, but some UCLA
student government candidates are taking the road less traveled
anyway.
Six of the 32 students running for a position on next
year’s Undergraduate Students Association Council are running
as independents instead of on one of the major slates.
Slates are coalitions of students with similar views formed
partly in hopes they might garner more votes during the election as
a unit.
Janet Chiang, a fourth-year molecular, cell and developmental
biology student running for student welfare commissioner, opted not
to join a slate for the election.
Chiang acknowledged her decreased chances of getting votes as an
independent, but said she doesn’t believe in someone voting
for her just because she’s affiliated with a slate.
“Whether or not I win, the students should make a choice
on who is the best candidate,” Chiang said.
She added that she didn’t want to have to turn her back on
a slate if she wanted to vote on an issue differently than her
slate members.
“The way I vote should reflect what is best for my
commission,” Chiang said.
Independent Campus Events commissioner candidate Jason Gaulton,
who is running uncontested, expressed a similar opinion.
“I’m a representative of Campus Events and before
that I’m a representative of the student body. It’s
those two I want to represent,” he said.
Despite the canditates’ optimism, others say running as an
independent and expecting to get votes is unrealistic.
Current financial supports commissioner and United Independents
presidential candidate Andrew LaFlamme said if he ran as an
independent it would “strip” him of his ability to
“enact change at UCLA.”
LaFlamme separated from S.U.R.E. earlier this year and
subsequently formed his own slate, U.I.
The name of the slate itself has been called a contradiction,
but he said the name is a statement about where the slate’s
loyalties lie: with the students and not with the slate as this
year’s council has shown, he said.
He also explained how he wanted to break away from the influence
of the major slates, but couldn’t run as an independent in
the current USAC system.
He said the current election process is “tainted”
such that voters ultimately make their decision based on slate
affiliation more than anything else.
“Right now it’s not realistic for student groups and
students in many areas to vote for candidates based on
qualifications,” said LaFlamme, adding that getting elected
as an independent is “extremely difficult” and slates
have the advantage.
Omar Quadrat, a United Independents financial supports
commissioner candidate, said seeing LaFlamme struggle with his
former slate ““ Students United for Reform and Equality
““ made him realize “USAC politics (are not) really
conducive to benefitting the student body.”
However, he said, U.I. is different.
“We have candidates from across the board and we’re
united in our goals, but we have independent minds,” Qudrat
said.
U.I. general representative candidate Jon English echoed
LaFlamme’s sentiment.
“Independents don’t have a good track record of
winning,” he said.
“For me, after reading and experiencing USAC, it seems
that if you want to cause real change like diluting slate
influence, you have to get into the machine,” he added.
With reports from Charlotte Hsu, Daily Bruin reporter.