Three prominent figures within the ASUO revealed plans to run for ASUO president in interviews with the Emerald Tuesday night, well ahead of the March 11 filing deadline for candidates.
ASUO Sens. Carina Miller and Emma Kallaway said they are going to run for the position. Sen. Nicholas Schultz said that although he intends to run, he will not be certain he will be a candidate until he files. EMU Board Chair Michelle Haley, who has been heavily rumored as a fourth candidate, said she will run for an office if she chooses to attend the University next year, but has not decided if she will run for president.
Kallaway, Miller and Schultz ran on the progressive Rock the Yellow slate in the last election, while Haley was campaign manager of the fiscally conservative Oregon Action Team slate. Haley said in an interview Wednesday evening that the Oregon Action Team will reform this year and she did not want to declare herself a candidate in part because she did not want to assume she was the preferred candidate of the entire team.
Though the Oregon Action Team captured more positions in last year’s election, Miller, Schultz and Kallaway said their similar positions would not weaken the position of the left in student government. Instead, they said, the mobilization of several campaigns would bring more students into the process.
“I don’t think the political spectrum of the ASUO will be important in this election,” Miller said.
Miller’s candidacy was first alluded to in November when an anonymous letter sent using the ASUO Senate’s e-mail address said she would be running alongside former Sen. Diego Hernandez. Miller, however, said Hernandez would not be her running mate, although she did not say whom she would run alongside. Miller served as chair of the Senate during its summer session and also chairs a caucus at the United States Student Association. She said she hopes to run a campaign with centrist appeal.
Kallaway is the Senate’s vice president and sits on the EMU Board of Directors. She currently works as a resident assistant and was on former ASUO President Emily McLain’s executive staff.
Haley has served on the EMU Board for two years, works in the EMU Cultural Forum and writes for the Oregon Commentator. She first made headlines this year after filing a grievance against Senate Treasurer Nathan Perley, which the ASUO Constitution Court eventually threw out.
Schultz chairs the Programs Finance Committee, which is responsible for allocating funds to more than 100 on-campus programs. Schultz has also worked for Campus Recycling and campaigned for President Barack Obama and U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley.
Both Miller and Kallaway have been the targets of disciplinary motions filed during February, only the second and third of the 2008-09 academic year. Miller said the motion against her and the grievance filed against Kallaway are attempts to discredit their respective campaigns.
The motion against Miller was filed by Programs Finance Committee member Andrew Cox, who is Haley’s ex-husband and roommate, and Miller said the grievance was filed to support people “who he is closely tied to.” Cox and Haley denied that Haley played any role in the writing of the grievance.
“I did it completely on my own. There was no one else involved,” Cox said.
Haley said Tuesday night that her candidacy hinged on her choice of graduate schools. She is considering Willamette University and colleges in Europe in addition to University of Oregon. However, she said every member of the Commentator’s staff would run in the election.
“If we file, like, five or six candidates, the odds are in our favor,” she said.
Miller was unwilling to disclose the name of her vice-presidential candidate, but Kallaway said she would be running with Black Student Union President Getachew Kassa.
“I want to emphasize that I’m running with Getachew. I don’t want it to be like we’re not a team,” Kallaway said.
Schultz said if he runs it will be alongside Sen. Lidiana Soto. However, he emphasized that his decision is still tentative, a point echoed by the other perspective candidates.
“All of us are still just prospects until we officially file,” Kallaway said.
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