Former ASPSU presidential candidate Ron Lee sent out a press release Wednesday morning officially announcing his decision to suspend his campaign for president and instead run for a member position on the Student Fee Committee.
Lee decided to drop out of the race for president after spending some time with the other candidates running for the position, particularly Jonathan Sanford and Collin LaVallee.
“I think they’re both qualified, and my life experience has made me want to do whatever I can to change what I can,” Lee said.
He expressed his support for Sanford as a primary reason for dropping out of the race.
“It’s not responsible to keep running and take votes away from a better-qualified candidate, who I think is Jonathan,” he said. “Jonathan has been here, he has lots of connections, tools, legislative experience.”
In Lee’s desire to affect change, he has chosen instead to pursue a position as an SFC member candidate.
“You can be a leader without being student body president,” Lee said.
Lee has allegedly received some mixed feedback on whether or not he is permitted to change his running position from president to SFC member this late in the process.
He said that Brain Gumport, Elections Board member, and Ingrid Castellina, the board chair, initially told him that the switch did not violate election rules.
“There is nothing in the bylaws, off the top of my head, that would prevent him from switching,” Gumport said in a phone interview.
Lee said that he had heard from some ASPSU officers that the switch would not be allowed this late in the race.
Kyle Cady, ASPSU vice president, said that the decision was entirely up to the Elections Board, and he was unaware that such a statement had been made to Lee. Cady explained that the Elections Board had been a little more flexible with deadlines this year.
“It’s certainly unprecedented,” Zach Martinson, state affairs director, said. “Usually when you register as a candidate you run for what you registered for.”
Lee has not been officially approved as a SFC candidate as of press time.