The first day of Student Government elections brought out over 5,000 students, despite Hurricane Milton poised to make landfall Wednesday.
Because UF campus is closed for the hurricane Wednesday and Thursday, the second day of elections has been rescheduled to Monday, Oct. 14.
Students will elect 50 Student Senators whose seats are based on living location. Three parties have slated candidates in the race: Vision Party, Change Party and Watch Party.
At Heavener Hall, Samuel Roytburd, a 19-year-old UF accounting sophomore, said he came out to support Vision and make sure his voice is heard.
“I know every vote counts,” Roytburd said.
He explained he wanted his vote to go to Vision because he read the party’s platform on Instagram and liked all the ideas.
Another Vision voter, Cooper Gottfried, an 18-year-old UF finance freshman, was motivated by personal relationships more than party affiliation.
“I came out to vote for [off-campus Vision candidate] Jack Greg,” Gottfried said. “He’s just one of my good friends.”
On the other hand, Arianna Bell, a 20-year-old UF accounting junior, said she came out to support Change.
Concerns about political corruption drove her to the polls, Bell said.
“I’ve heard from people that I know that are in frats and sororities that it’s like, ‘You have to vote Vision or you won’t get to go to this event or get a meal,’” she said.
24/7 Marston and RTS funding were significant motivators for Change voter Colin Price, a 20-year-old UF entomology sophomore.
“I agree with most of Change Party’s policies more,” Price said. “I just think they’re putting money to the right places.”
Change voter Luke Slaughter, a 19-year-old UF electrical engineering sophomore, shared similar views.
“I’ve been seeing a lot of Instagram posts from Change Party,” Slaughter said, mainly related to 24/7 Marston and RTS funding.
He also said Change posts “against Vision and everything they’ve done wrong” helped convince him to vote.
Not all voters, however, have decided which party’s candidates they plan to support.
Valerie Trejo, a 21-year-old UF political science junior, said she was “expecting more for the multicultural Greek community” out of Change’s platform.
However, Trejo said, issues like RTS funding are more significant to her as an off-campus student.
“I’m definitely voting based on RTS,” she said.
Maria Goyanes, a 21-year-old UF psychology senior, said political parties don’t factor into her voting decision.
“I look at both platforms,” Goyanes said, in order to answer questions like, “what are you advocating for? How is it gonna benefit me? How is it gonna benefit others?”
Concerns on her mind included support for DEI, RTS and 24/7 Marston funding, and Multicultural Greek Council organizations.
Goyanes said she has considered voting for the newly-formed Watch Party due to frustrations with the ways in which both established parties act.
“It’s always been Vision and Change going back and forth at each other,” she said. ”It doesn’t lead to anything because they’re just trash talking each other.”
Nevertheless, she still left open the possibility of voting for Vision or Change.
Another undecided voter, Bryson Newrine, a 22-year-old UF philosophy senior, said he wasn’t aware elections took place today, nor that they would take place on Monday as well.
Though Newrine said he wanted to vote after learning the election dates, he said he wouldn’t vote today due to Hurricane Milton.
“I’m absolutely not voting today; I need to get home,” he said.
While Newrine said he needed to further educate himself, he predicted he would vote for Change.
“Change Party seems to be for something like 24 hour libraries, and that’s something that I would personally use more than something like concerts,” he said. “If that’s true, I’d probably vote Change just on that fact alone, but I probably have to look more into it.”
While some students agreed to share their election thoughts, many others said they were not allowed to speak with the Alligator, nor had strong feelings about SG, but voted at the request of their Greek organization.
Timothy Wang and Annie Wang contributed to this report.
Contact Avery Parker at aparker@alligator.org. Follow him on X @AveryParke98398.
Avery Parker is a third-year English and History major covering university affairs for The Alligator. Outside of reporting, Avery spends his time doting on his cats, reading, and listening to music by the Manwolves.
