The three presidential and vice presidential candidates running on tickets provided an explanation of how they selected the people to run with them and why they feel their ticket is complete.
A campaign ticket is a list of candidates proposed and endorsed by a pair of presidential and vice presidential candidates. The people on the ticket are running for different offices but under the same platforms as the executive office candidates.
These three pairs of running mates are campaigning with a long list of candidates running for Senate seats, University Court, Athletic Council, Union Governing Board and college council members on each of their tickets.
Jay Buller and Robert Lay
Impact LSU
Buller and Lay said they did not set quotas to get representatives from certain campus groups but instead chose students who distinguished themselves as leaders in several areas.
Buller said they have people on their ticket who contacted them to get involved and not just people whom they contacted. They also chose students they thought would follow through with their job through their entire term in office.
Buller said it does not take geniuses to run SG; instead, it takes normal students who are dedicated to their jobs.
Their ticket is missing some international groups, but it does include representatives from the international community as a whole, Buller said. If any gross misrepresentations are evident after the election, Buller and Lay said they will correct them when they appoint the executive staff.
The Impact LSU ticket is comprised of people from more than 50 campus groups, including members of Greek organizations, Greek governing organizations, Tiger Athletic Foundation, several professional groups, College Republicans and athletic teams.
Buller said the strongest asset of the ticket is the number of Greek leaders. Lay said they did not choose these students because they were Greek but chose them because of their skills in dealing with administrators.
“The potential found on this list is by far superior to those on other tickets,” Buller said.
Impact LSU is comprised of students Buller and Lay “hand-picked,” whom they believe will best represent the campus community and understand their job requirements.
Allen Richey and Jason Wesley
Empower LSU
Richey and Wesley said they approached students they thought would be interested in running for SG because of Empower LSU’s platforms. They said the leaders on their ticket are the best on campus and are committed to their platforms.
Richey said when compared to other tickets, Empower LSU brings the most experience to the table. Wesley has been a student senator for two years, and Richey has served in two different administrations on the executive staff.
Richey said Empower LSU is unique because it brings a balance of policy and programming through its previous experience in SG. The leaders they are running with represent all areas of campus and are capable of fairly representing all areas of student concerns, he said.
Richey said while other tickets may claim to have concern for minority issues, Empower LSU is the only one with a history of working in the minority community.
Wesley has worked as chairman of the Martin Luther King Jr. Committee. Richey has been a member of the Minority Action Team.
Richey said this commitment to all campus concerns distinguishes Empower LSU from other tickets.
Richey said no group is lacking representation on their ticket, and no one group is better represented than another because they have leaders from all areas of campus. These include students from the Greek community, international organizations, minority organizations, Ambassadors, ROTC, service organizations and religious organizations.
“Our ticket is set apart from the others, as we have the experience, the balance, the proven record and the issues to represent all of campus and do so actively,” Richey said.
Kyle Wilkinson and Danny Rockwell
Real Issues, Real Results
Wilkinson and Rockwell met with a team of student leaders and searched for students they felt represented the University and would work hard to tackle the “real issues” that have not been confronted.
“We have ordinary students that love LSU and are in touch with what students really expect from SG and have the background to prove that they are willing to work for that,” Wilkinson said. “We selected leaders who have already had great success in their various organizations across campus.”
Wilkinson and Rockwell hope no campus group is missing from their ticket because they want it to accurately reflect the diversity of the University community.
The Real Issues, Real Results ticket includes members of the current SG administration, Greek organizations, Greek governing organizations, several honor societies, athletic teams, campus religious groups, Tiger Band and Ambassadors.
Wilkinson said their ticket is not a “group of résumé builders” but instead students who are “eager to get real results on this campus.” He said no specific group is overrepresented on their ticket.
The Real Issues, Real Results ticket is distinguished because it is a moderate ticket that pulls support from all sides, Wilkinson said.