This letter is in response to the Daily’s endorsement of Jonathan Turk and Chandra Peterson as president and vice president for Government of the Student Body.

The Daily’s endorsement of Turk-Peterson did not come as much of a surprise. It is no big secret that Derek Haskin and I, Jason Boggess, are the underdogs in this campaign.

We got a late start and had to put our campaign together in only a few weeks, while our opponents have had over a year to plan their initiative.

 It is important to point out that it is not my practice to start things at the last minute and is not something that you should expect from me as GSB president.

I am writing today to tell you where Derek and I were a few weeks ago, and why we are now in the running for GSB president.

Derek and I are very strong residence hall leaders and in early February our plan was to run for Inter-Residence Hall Association president and vice president.

During a few weeks leading up to when statements of intent were due for the GSB election, there were growing concerns from members of GSB about having GSB speaker Turk become GSB President. To be clear, they were not having concerns about him running uncontested. They were concerned about him actually being president of GSB.

One day, we were approached by GSB senators who asked us to run for GSB president. At first we were reluctant, but after talking to more GSB senators and people from IRHA who urged us to run, we knew it was the right thing to do.

I believe in my heart that it is nothing short of a miracle that we gathered 1500 signatures in six days. Derek and I stood out in the cold for hours at a time asking for people’s names.

People we hardly knew, and some we didn’t know at all, asked if they could help get us on the ballot. When Friday came, we had made it with a reasonable margin.

But the Turk-Peterson concern didn’t stop there. In our process of gathering petition signatures people came running up to us — and I do literally mean running up — asking us to help with our campaign.

Even people we had never met that knew nothing about us or our platform, but were GSB members who felt so strongly about our opponents, wanted to support our cause.

No matter where we went on campus, it was the same story. Derek commented that he has probably upset a few people in his life. But to make so many people upset that no matter where we went, we found people who wanted to help us simply because they did not like our competition, was astonishing.

It concerns me greatly that a vast number of GSB members — from all branches of the government: senators, executive members, even justices — were willing to select and promote two IRHA representatives over a seasoned GSB speaker/senator for the next GSB president.

I personally have nothing against speaker Turk and had no preconceived notions about him before I started this race, so it is not my place to speculate on what we were told by the GSB members.

However, the quantity and severity of these GSB comments has raised great concern in my eyes that simply cannot be ignored.

Many GSB senators are working for our campaign who wish to remain anonymous for fear of reparations in the GSB senate.

There are even high-ranking members of GSB who have confided in us they only endorsed speaker Turk because they thought he would be the only person running in the election.

I want people to know that I am not on this ticket simply because I want to be GSB president. I am on this ticket because I feel it is the right thing to do. I feel is it the right thing for GSB and I feel it is the right thing for Iowa State University.

Iowa State needs the faithful leader I know I am. I am a strong person, an avid problem solver and have the willpower to tackle anything set before me.

GSB senators are the experts in their field and I want ISU students to make the most educated decisions possible. They are the people who have worked closely with our competition and know what is best for Iowa State.

Jason Boggess

GSB presidential candidate Senior

Mechanical engineering and software engineering