ASUO presidential candidate Michelle Haley accused rival Nick Schultz on Tuesday of breaking a promise to limit his spending, though Schultz said the claim was based on an inaccurate estimation of the amount his candidate slate spent on a promotional concert.
EMU Board Chair Haley said ASUO Sen. Schultz’ True Blue Student Coalition slate had spent “over $700” to bring Eugene hip-hop group Four Trees to perform in the EMU amphitheater Wednesday, though she declined to reveal the identity of her source. “I have no idea how someone could finance that, especially if they’re on a spending cap,” Haley said.
Schultz, however, said the campaign had spent $458.50 on the concert. Schultz has promised to cap the campaign’s spending at $2,009.
Schultz had earlier called Haley’s campaign’s spending “excessive.” Haley is running on the Oregon Action Team slate, which spent nearly $10,000 on its ultimately successful campaign in 2008, when Haley was its manager.
Haley agreed that the 2008 spending was excessive, but said the 2009 campaign would not approach last year’s expenditures.
“As someone who experienced a very expensive campaign season last year, we’re trying to avoid that this year,” Haley said.
Haley said her campaign’s expenses had “barely broken the $2,500 mark,” though she said her estimates could be inaccurate. “I don’t really make myself a part of the spending because I’m really bad at math,” Haley said.
The concert, Haley said, was an attempt to distract voters from the issues of the campaign.
“If someone says the campaign won’t be bought, and then does that, I think there are problems,” Haley said.
However, Schultz’s campaign in turn accused Michelle Haley’s campaign of attempting to buy votes. The Oregon Action Team has yet to set a spending limit for its campaign. Schultz’s acting spokesman Curtis Haley said slates that have not set spending limits are buying votes.
“The ASUO already is filled with campaigns who believe that campus elections are decided by handing out memorabilia,” Curtis Haley, who is also running for the ASUO Senate, said.
Both Michelle Haley’s and Schultz’s slates have been campaigning heavily on the University campus. The Oregon Action Team’s campaign is headquartered in a trailer parked outside the EMU. Schultz’s candidates, meanwhile, work in “street teams” that pass out fliers on the corner of 13th Avenue and University Street.
While Oregon Action Team and True Blue are making their presence felt on campus, the race’s third slate, Students First, has proclaimed that it will not begin actively campaigning until Thursday.
The slate’s vice presidential candidate, ASUO Sen. Nick Gower, refused to say why the campaign was waiting, but said that beginning later would not put its candidates at a disadvantage, saying his campaign would reach out to programs, which he believes no others had done.
“I become more confident with every passing moment,” Gower said.
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