The Bruins United and Students First! slates spent more than $9,500 each on campaign materials for undergraduate student government elections this week, according to expense account information released Tuesday.
The final tally of expenses for each was Bruins United with $9,593.44 and Students First! with $9,783.52. The money raised by each slate was then divided evenly among the candidates, with Bruins United candidates receiving $1,199.18 each and Students First! candidates receiving $1,222.94 each.
Candidates from both slates pooled funds from a variety of sources by reaching out to alumni, family and friends to lend support to their campaign.
Gregory Cendana, campaign manager for Students First!, said the slate has held dinner parties and sold T-shirts made from companies that don’t utilize sweatshops to promote the kinds of causes that Students First! advocates.
The Students First! slate spent $190.08 more in campaign materials than Bruins United, a marked difference from last year, when Students First! candidates spent close to $2,000 more than their counterparts.
The reduction in expenses came after Students First! decided to spend more money on a smaller variety of campaign materials, Cendana said.
He said he hoped the move would help show the slate’s unity as well as provide more cohesiveness during the campaign and engage students in dialogue.
“We look to the fliers and the different gimmicks to help facilitate that discussion,” Cendana said.
None of the independent candidates spent anything on campaign materials this year, since only one of them, presidential candidate Jeff Matt, is running opposed.
Most of the campaign expenses were spent on materials such as fliers, T-shirts and even condoms for candidates to pass out during the week to encourage students to vote.
The varying signboards set up along Bruin Walk also marked another difference in spending costs between the two slates. Bruins United had their signboards professionally made and, as a result, spent more than Students First! candidates, who hand-painted their signboards, a trademark of the slate.
Supporters of The Green Initiative Fund also raised more than $3,000 after reaching out to organizations such as the Gaia Foundation, an organization that works to promote environmental sustainability, which donated $1000.
The referendum would raise student fees by $4 per quarter to create a fund for environmental sustainability projects.
Most of the money raised by supporters of the referendum was used to purchase organic T-shirts and fliers to help promote the ballot initiative.
Students can vote online at MyUCLA until voting ends at 7 p.m. on Thursday.