Monday kicked off the second half of the Student Senate campaign season with the first endorsement from a current senate executive.
Senate treasurer Chris Wimsatt endorsed REACH and its executives — presidential candidate Zach George, vice presidential candidate Amrit Saini and treasurer candidate Evan Ecos.
“These three are going to have the smallest learning curve and (will) hit the ground running and hit senate with a lot of initiatives,” said Wimsatt, a senior studying political science.
Wimsatt is the first senate executive this year to endorse a ticket.
“It’s very exciting news,” said George, a junior studying finance. “It just reaffirms what we’ve been saying: We’re the right people for the job. If anybody knows what to look for in our campaign, it’s a current executive.”
Senate’s current vice president, Roger Jones, said he wants to wait until after the first debate before he endorses any candidates or either ticket. The first senate presidential debate, hosted by the Board of Elections, will be at 6 p.m. Wednesday in the Bobcat Student Lounge on Baker’s bottom floor.
“I feel like (the campaign season has) been pretty mild right now,” Jones said. “I still have to do research on (both tickets’) entire platform to make myself knowledgeable about their plans.”
Senate President Kyle Triplett said he will not endorse any candidates or either ticket unless there was an “extenuating circumstance.”
“I think they’re both great candidates,” Triplett said. “I think they’re both very good members of senate, and I just don’t know if it’s right for me to endorse anybody.”
Tony Koehling, yOU’s presidential candidate, said he is not concerned with Wimsatt’s endorsement.
“He’s a well-respected guy,” said Koehling, a junior studying political science. “But the thing that doesn’t worry me is the fact that all of the sway that he has with circles on campus are the same circles Zach and Amrit already have their sway in.”
Last Thursday, yOU was endorsed by Kevin Lenahan, more commonly known as OU’s “hot tub guy” after he was forced to remove his inflatable hot tub from James Hall earlier this year.
“I think having someone like that endorse us is a little out of the ordinary as well,” Koehling said. “You just don’t see average students endorsing. It’s not that extraordinary when a current executive backed a party he was affiliated with last year.”
sj950610@ohiou.edu
