Although Tuesday’s Student Senate meeting lasted less than an hour, members of the Unite Party and the Progress Party have hours of work ahead of them as elections loom.
SG general elections will be held on Feb. 22 and 23, and parties were required to submit their list of candidates by Tuesday night.
Student Alliance party leader Kevin Kleponis announced he will be stepping down from his role due to the party’s merge with Progress Party for the elections.
The newly merged party will maintain the Progress Party name.
Kleponis expressed his support for Dave Schneider, Progress Party candidate for Student Body president.
“He is an activist on campus, and he’s going to be an activist Student Body president,” Kleponis said.
Both Kleponis and Senate President Ben Meyers, the Unite Party candidate for Student Body President, urged senators to avoid unfair or corrupt campaign tactics.
During last February’s election season, fliers critical of both the Student Alliance party and the Unite Party were distributed on campus.
“What happened last spring has done nothing but discourage voter turnout [and] increase apathy,” Meyers said.
The discussion danced from party politics to salsa when senators unanimously approved a bill allocating $1,820 to the Gator Salsa Club for a spring formal featuring dance instruction.
