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Senate coalitions all well below spending cap
DARBY VANHOUTAN @darbyvanhoutan
With a little over two weeks remaining in Student Senate campaign season, all four coalitions running for elections have spent less than $700 combined, according to spending reports provided to the Kansan by the Elections Commission. The combined spending makes up less than a fourth of the coalitions' combined spending caps.
A commonly underreported topic on college campuses, the spending done in Student Senate elections, has become a point of conversation on campuses nationwide. Universities like Ohio State have been found to have major political groups contributing large amounts of money to student government elections in an attempt to increase conservative candidates in leadership positions.
The current spending cap is $1,000 per coalition, which, although debated and amended higher and lower in years following, was put in place in spring 2014.
each coalition spent upwards of $10,000, as a reason for supporting caps on spending.
As recently as last year, these same discussions were brought to the forefront of the University following several years of no spending caps, unenforced spending caps or high spending caps.
Elections Commission Compliance Chair Harrison Baker is in support of the current cap, saying it's "there for a reason," referencing back to the 2013 Student Senate elections between Ad Astra and KUnited, where
The four current coalitions, TrueKU, KUnited, Onward and OneKU, are required by Student Senate Rules and Regulations to report any spending to the Elections Commission each Monday by 5 p.m. Failing to report any coalition spending to the Elections Commission is considered an egregious violation. A typical and almost certain punishment for a violation of this, Baker said, is disqualification.
So far, each coalition has obeyed this rule and is permitted to spend money, given they don't exceed the $1,000 cap, up until the election on April 12 and 13.
Graphic by Grant Heiman/KANSAN
TrueKU
So far, according to reports filed by their Elections Commission Liaison Constanza Castro, the TrueKU coalition has spent $0 — the only one out of the four to have not yet spent any money.
Although isolated in that they have not campaigned monetarily, this doesn't mean TrueKU has any less of a chance. This is because of the changing landscape of advertising in campaigns, according to Baker.
"You can win an election, honestly, on less than $600 I would guess," Baker said. "If you plan well, if you reach to people well, if you use social media to your advantage, you don't need to spend that much money. Today's realm is a social media election."
The same reports showed, however, that TrueKU is the coalition that has raised the most money thus far. A total of $796 has been collected by the coalition by means of a GoFundMe campaign.
A similar method of fundraising was employed by the current Student Senate when they campaigned as OneKU in last years' Student Senate election, according to Student Body President Stephonn Alcorn. The coalition raised $1,000 through GoFundMe, bringing them to the cap before ultimately winning.
KUnited
The KUnited coalition has spent a total of $70.34 in the almost seven weeks since their launch.According to reports filed by Elections
Commission Liaison Emma Anderson, the spending totaled up through the purchase of a website, chalk and Facebook ads.
The reports show that, unlike TrueKU and OneKU, these expenses were not paid for through a GoFundMe. According to KUnited presidential candidate Tomas Green, initial costs at early stages of the campaign were paid for by himself, but fundraising from family and friends has gotten them to the halfway point of the $1,000 cap.
They'll receive the rest of the money through the Equitable Elections Fund (EEF), a fund created by Student Senate which provides up to $700 of a coalition's funding if they raise at least $300 on their own and operate by
Student Senate Rules and Regulations.
"We have fundraised about $500 from other sources which will help cover the rest of our costs. And with the EEF, we will be fully funded," Green said.
Onward
Thus far, the Onward coalition has spent $185.36, according to spending reports filed weekly by Elections Commisions Liaison Ryan Billups. This money has been spent on chalk, index cards, paper and buttons, according to the same reports.
Like KUnited, Onward has decided to not achieve this funding through fundraising or other means and instead has paid out of pocket for everything purchased.
According to presidential
candidate Chance Maginness, these expenses are being paid by only himself and vice presidential candidate Logan Miller.
"I don't want to burden members," Maginness said in regards to how they chose to get funding.
OneKU
OneKU has, so far, spent the most out of the four coalitions at $388.76, according to weekly spending reports filed by Elections Commission Liaison Charles Jetty.
OneKU has used these funds to buy an easel pad, chalk, buttons and website registration. According to the same weekly spending reports, OneKU has achieved their funding, a total of $625 so far, through a GoFundMe, like TrueKU.