Primaries for GM and PU to be held for the first time in 15 years

For the first time in 15 years, primary elections will be held for both Grand Marshal and President of the Union during GM Week. Three students are running for GM and four students are running for PU. According to the Elections Commision handbook, a primary election may be held if “there are more candidates than twice the number of available positions.” The two candidates for both positions that receive the most votes in their respective primary election will face off in the general election ballot.

The Elections Commission announced that primary elections will be held on Monday, March 17 through a virtual ballot sent out to all students before the general election on Thursday, March 20. Primary debates will be held on Friday, March 14 in the Student Government Suite at 6 pm and a general debate will be held between the remaining candidates on Wednesday, March 16 in the Union.

The three candidates running for GM this year to succeed Vivian Rost-Nasshan ’26, who is not seeking a second term, are Tiburon Benavides ’29G, Vicky Guo ’26, and Chris Roe ’26. Lucas Masotti ’26 was also running for GM, but dropped out on Wednesday. Benavides and Roe are the only two candidates currently on the Student Senate serving as a Graduate Senator and Class of 2026 Senator, respectively. Guo currently serves on the Executive Board as the Vice President for Club Relations.

The incumbent PU Catherine Philipps ’24, ’25G will graduate this semester. The four candidates to succeed her are Joseph Bowers ’25, Gavin Finn ’28, Isabele Lieber ’25, and Toby McDonald ’26. Bowers, who currently serves as Vice President for Board Operations on E-Board, ran unsuccessfully for PU last year against Philipps. Lieber and McDonald are Club and Organization representatives on E-Board, with Lieber currently serving as Club Operations chair. Finn is currently the Class of 2028 Class Representative on E-Board.

The last time a primary was held for a GM candidate was back in 2018 and the last primary for a PU candidate was held in 2017. The last time a primary was held for both positions simultaneously was in 2010, though the Judicial Board nullified the primary results for GM saying that integrity of the election was compromised. GM candidate Benjamin Hunt ’10 was found to have made “false claims against a singular opponent” in violation of the honor code of the GM Week 2010 Handbook. The Rules and Elections Committee stripped Hunt’s rights to campaign the morning of the primary. Hunt appealed to J-Board which issued a temporary injunction until a hearing could be held. The RNE decided it would hold a new GM primary election and a new GM final election.

The RNE then invalidated the second GM final election as the committee found several violations by Hunt on the day of the second election regarding incorrectly reporting finances, overspending his budget, and campaigning. Hunt appealed again to J-Board which ruled that the violations did not affect the outcome and as such the results accurately reflect the will of the student body. Hunt ultimately prevailed over his opponent Michael Zwack ’11 to become GM, winning 55 percent of the vote to Zwach’s 40 percent.

On Wednesday, Grace Meehan ’28, who serves on the Class of 2028 Council, filed to run for Undergraduate President. Since she is running unopposed, Meehan is practically guaranteed to win. Though the deadline to file candidacy forms and nomination is March 17 at 12 pm. A full list of candidates running for office, including for class representatives, class senators, and class presidents and vice presidents, can be found here.