Students at St. Thomas University may experience déjà vu when they go to vote in the Students’ Union election later this month. A number of candidates from previous elections have said their names will be on the ballot.
Both STUSU president Ella Henry and vice-president education Craig Mazerolle have confirmed they will be running again.
“I can tell you I’m running again because, you know, you have to tell people you are running if you’re going to get nomination forms signed and that happens before campaigning,” Henry said in an interview last week.
Last year, Henry ran against Melissa Bastarache and Mark Livingstone. Livingstone received the least amount of votes and a tie forced a run-off election between Henry and Bastarache.
But Livingstone is up for the challenge again. He told The Aquinian he plans to run for president this coming election.
Mary-Dan Johnston, the vice-president administration, was first elected to the position in a by-election in 2009. She was re-elected for a full-term last spring when she ran against Justin Marshall.
Johnston was hesitant to respond to questions about running again, saying she would not want to violate campaign bylaws should she decide to run. But The Aquinian has heard from two other people – one a union member – that she does plan to run again.
Marshall said he is planning to offer his name once again, but at the time of the interview, wasn’t sure which position he’d like. Marshall ran for one of the off-campus representative positions in the last fall election but lost.
Vice-president student life Lydia MacDonell is not running, as she graduates this year.
Michael Manning and Tracey House have also told The Aquinian they plan to run for positions. House is planning to run for one of the board of governors’ seats.
All potential candidates could not discuss their campaign platform in the election citing by-laws that forbid active campaigning before Feb. 15.
Last year the election focused on accountability, deficit reduction and transparency.
