Money plays a key role in national politics, but this year’s candidates in the ASUO general election contend the story is different when the spotlight shines on student elections.
ASUO Executive tickets Rachel Pilliod and Ben Buzbee won the most votes in Friday’s primary election, and Sean Ritchie and Jason Babkes received the second most votes, but that order doesn’t hold regarding the money they raised for their campaigns.
Ritchie and Babkes raised the most, followed by Eric Bailey and Charlotte Nisser, with Pilliod and Buzbee placing third in the finance race.
According to campaign finance forms, Ritchie and Babkes pulled in more than $1,300 in contributions from family and friends to meet their election costs. The rest of their money came from personal savings, Ritchie said.
Pilliod and Buzbee — also with the help of family and friends — have generated more than $700 to date. Final contribution and spending numbers must be turned in to the ASUO office by March 4.
“We thought it was necessary to spend this amount of money to get our names out,” Ritchie said. He and Babkes agreed that the money was necessary with so many of their primary election opponents already recognized on campus from involvement in ASUO.
“It comes down to time or money,” Babkes said. “It takes a great deal more of our time to meet who they already know,” he said.
Ritchie and Babkes sold about 125 T-shirts bearing their names to students they thought represented them well. Other funds went toward publicity, including fliers that they distributed on campus and a full-page advertisement in the Emerald.
Pilliod and Buzbee raised much of their campaign funds by sending letters asking for donations. While they also aimed for high publicity, they worked basic economics into their equation for how much to spend on the campaign.
“We heard the average campaign runs about $1,000 to fund,” Pilliod said. “We used cost-effective measures to conserve but optimize our visibility,” she said.
Pilliod said she and Buzbee tried to save money by laminating posters that could be reused and worn on backpacks, and by selling handmade headbands. Like Ritchie and Babkes, T-shirts were their biggest expense.
Ritchie, the son of Northwest jeweler Harry Ritchie, did not want his family’s financial backing to steal the stage from the focus of their campaign.
“We stand by our platform and want (voters) to know money has no effect on our ability to lead,” Ritchie said.
Turning the clock back to elections in years past, there hasn’t been a link drawn from increased funding boosting votes.
“The irony in spending is that the ones who spend the most don’t usually win,” ASUO Elections Coordinator Courtney Hight said.
She said it was not uncommon in the past few years for a ticket to spend $1,500 or more on the primary and general election combined.
Regardless of the amount collected, ASUO hopefuls from both sides said the issues candidates run on are more important than how much they spend.
“It does take some amount of money to publicize names, but ultimately it comes down to the best candidates,” Buzbee said.
“We want them to look at the issues,” Babkes agreed, “not the money.”
E-mail reporter Robin Weber
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