If money can't buy love, can it buy a seat in government?
Though many University students probably associate the combination of money and politics with Washington, D.C. and national elections, some student politicians have demonstrated their willingness to dish out money while running for office.
In the recent University student elections, expenditures ranged from no money spent to the almost $400 spent by one Honor Committee candidate. Some candidates who spent considerable amounts of money ended up winning their elections, while others lost to candidates who spent next to nothing.
The University Board of Elections is charged with keeping track of candidate spending. The UBE's Rules and Regulations state that there is no limit to the monetary amount a candidate can spend or is allowed to accept as a campaign contribution.
According to UBE Rules Officer Tomer Vandsburger, a third-year College student, candidates are required to submit itemized expenditure reports to UBE within 24 hours following an expenditure and must also submit a finalized report by the end of the voting period. The report must include all money spent by the candidate toward an election effort, any donated funds spent in the campaign and money spent by other individuals toward a campaign, he said.
According to the UBE Rules and Regulations, a candidate can be disqualified because of failure to submit this report.
Vandsburger added, however, that candidates who spend less than $5 do not have to submit a final itemized expenditure report.
Election economics
On the whole, Vandsburger said the recent election season saw a drop in total spending.
"In terms of total amounts spent, less money was spent this year, primarily because there were less candidates running," Vandsburger said.
Most big spenders in last week's elections came from the University-wide elections, most notably the Student Council presidential and Honor Committee representative contests.
Third-year College student Sophie Staples spent a total of $344.39 during her campaign for Honor Arts & Sciences representative, more than any other candidate whose expenditures were available through the UBE Web site. Staples said most of her money went toward buying pens with her name and candidacy on them that she handed out to potential supporters.
"I think it was a good way to get my name out there, and I don't think it is why I won, but I do think that active campaigning is very helpful," Staples noted.
Although Vandsburger would not confirm whether Staples was the highest spending candidate, he noted that in terms of individual expenditures, more money was spent this year by one individual than by any candidate last year.
Council president runner-up and third-year College student Isaac Wood reported $339.90 spent on his campaign, compared to the winning candidate, second-year College student Matt Schrimper, who spent only $46.93. Wood said he used some of the money on "essentials that you can't run a campaign without" such as flyers and other materials.
"I think the reason it looked as though I was spending a lot is that I was very thorough and timely in how I reported everything [to the UBE]," Wood said, explaining that the cost of items such as flyers, staples and tape added up. According to Wood, not all candidates may have been as precise in recording the costs of materials used to hang flyers.
Wood added that the majority of his funds, more than $200, were spent on T-shirts and stickers for his campaign supporters. He said these expenditures made supporters feel like they were part of something.
"They [the T-shirts] did a lot to make people feel like they were investing and gave them a cool memento to remember the experience," Wood said. "At the end of the day, I think it had a certain level of worth."
Wood said some people accused him of trying "to buy the election" by spending so much money. What people did not see, Wood said, was that people who received T-shirts, as well as some who just felt passionate about his candidacy, donated amounts ranging from about $5 to $10 to his campaign, causing him to break even on the money he spent on the shirts.
Although Wood said he reported these donations to the UBE, he noted that the organization told him he was not required to make these donations public.
"I would explain that [to get a T-shirt] people would have to give a donation, that you would have to give back to the campaign," Wood said. "It was great that people were paying attention, I just wish that the UBE had reflected the other half [of where the money came from], and I think people thought that I was trying to buy the election when really it was just me and a group of people who felt passionately."
Many of Wood's supporters also supported his "running mate," third-year College student Sterling Elmore, who came in second in the race for Council vice president for administration. Elmore reported spending $103.28 in her campaign, compared to competitor and third-year College student Ethan Jorgensen-Earp's $39.07 and winner and second-year College student John Nelson's $67.43.
According to Elmore, although she did not receive any donations to her campaign, she was able to spend such a large amount of money because of a grant she received from UBE.
"There is no way I could have afforded to spend that kind of money without the grant," she said.
Elmore added that campaign expenditures tend to build up; while she spent more money than she would have liked to, she said spent the money needed to run a "serious" campaign.
"[Wood and I] were both serious about getting elected, we both ran serious campaigns," she said. "Does that sometimes translate into spending more money? Well, sometimes it does."
While some came close, not all candidates invested quite as much in their campaigns as Staples, Wood and Elmore did.
Third-year College student Blaire Hawkins spent $53.55 on her successful campaign for Honor Arts & Sciences representative, noting that she felt it was more important to get her name out through chalking and flyering in areas such as Lambeth Field Apartments and Hereford College rather than spending lots of money on campaigning. She noted the Honor representatives who spent the most money also received the most votes, but said it was "equally feasible for people to win" without spending large amounts of money.
Distributing T-shirts, flyering and chalking were not the only strategies used by candidates. Council representative candidate Batkhuu Dashnyam, a second-year College student, said he bought Facebook ads for his ultimately unsuccessful campaign. Arts & Sciences Council president-elect Lindsey Turner, a third-year College student, said she bought candy and attached it to flyers.
Meanwhile, Second-Year Council presidential candidate Benjamin Bowles, a College student, handed out condoms with his flyers Feb. 13. He said he thought this unique campaign strategy was "appropriate for the day before Valentine's Day." The candidate that ultimately bested Bowles in the election, Engineering student John Buttram, on the other hand, distributed Hershey Kisses on Valentine's Day.
A world without money
Not all campaign techniques focused on money, however; for example, Schrimper made use of what he called "free advertising."
While many candidates, including both of his competitors, created Facebook groups and Web sites to get their names and messages out, Schrimper said he went one step further, making use of all Facebook has to offer.
Schrimper said he sent messages to supporters that reminded them to vote and asked them to forward the message along to at least 10 friends. Additionally, he said he consistently updated his Facebook status, reminding Facebook friends to vote.
Schrimper added that one of his more effective strategies was his Web site that featured his slogan "Hop on the Schrimp boat" and had links for supporters to sign up for e-mails, join his Facebook group and even create Facebook "Profile Pants."
"Facebook is a new component of the University community, so you have the physical component of the community where you can walk around and see the chalkings and actually interact with people on a one-on-one basis, but there is this entirely new internal community, this online community, where really all the hard work has been done for me by Mark Zuckerberg, by setting up all the features and it just makes sense to take advantage of it to its full advantage," Schrimper said. "The most wonderful thing about this community is money really doesn't matter there, it's just all about networking and getting things through."
Other publicity techniques used included making campaign announcements, which Wood and Elmore did. Visiting clubs and sororities was also popular, according to Elmore.
Although she ultimately ran a losing campaign, Elmore said the focus of prospective student leaders should be on getting their name out and forming relationships with as many people as possible. Applying for the UBE's campaign grants allow candidates to spend money on publicity; this publicity, she said, can reinforce those relationships.
Elmore explained that she and Wood thought about their campaigns in "terms of politics and name recognition."
The power of people
Planning, though, no matter how in depth, does not always make for a successful campaign.
"With University elections, there is a large aspect of who you know, who your friends know and how likely those people are to vote," Elmore said.
Schrimper credits much of his success, not to the almost $50 he spent, but to his ability to mobilize friends into becoming interested in the election.
"For example, I would e-mail close friends of mine, who would listen to my message and send it on to friends of theirs," Schrimper said. "I would also go to meetings and speak to them and answer any questions that they might have."
Across the board, candidates agreed that getting to know people was the most important aspect of campaigning.
"It's all about meeting people," said third-year College student Laura Riggs, a winning candidate for University Judiciary Committee representative.
Elmore emphasized that although flyers and chalking may reinforce a name, it really comes down to the people you know.
"Personal relationships get you so much further than anything else," Elmore said. "It's more about the people you meet and the people you know ... You can skip putting up the flyer, but you can't skip out on talking to people"
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