The campaign tactics of mayoral candidate Jon Shelness has been receiving quite a bit of attention lately – both on- and off-campus.

But it’s not the success or size of his campaign that’s been garnering attention, but rather it’s uniqueness.

Many have called Shelness’ style “bizarre” and “unorthodox”

His campaigning – which range from canvassing campus to posting on online message boards – have been seen by many in Ames as a bit unconventional.

“That is a bizarre, unusual campaign technique,” said James Hutter, associate professor of political science.

Shelness, however, says he is merely making a “grass-roots,” traditional effort to gain support.

“I’m doing it the old-fashioned way,” Shelness said. “I knock on doors and stand in public places and if they give me 60 seconds of their time, I give a brief presentation.”

He has also been known to post on online ISU forum Strangetalk.net and hand out pieces of paper with nothing but his name.

“I spend 43 cents a day campaigning,” Shelness said. “And that’s basically slips of paper so people know how to spell my last name.”

There are those who doubt his efforts will be enough to win the mayoral election.

“It’s not likely to result in a win for any election,” Hutter said, who himself campaigned last year for Story County Auditor, to no avail.

He said name recognition isn’t enough when it comes to a campaign aimed at students.

“Name recognition means you know the name and something about him,” Hutter said. “It’s not enough to get students to vote. They need a reason to vote for you.”

Story County Auditor Mary Mosiman said new campaigning methods are not uncommon. Ten years ago it was unheard of for a candidate to have a Web site, but now it is a common occurrence.

“The pieces of paper are fine if you just want to get your name out there,” Mosiman said. “I can’t tell if they will be effective until election day is said and done. But it’s important to get your name known and ideas out there for the people who can and will vote for them.”

Shelness said he began posting on Strangetalk shortly after the Veishea riot as a way to get unedited opinions from ISU students.

“I know it’s not a good cross section of the opinions on campus,” Shelness said. “But it’s the best we have.”

Vignesh Vijayakumar, owner of Strangetalk and senior in computer engineering, said Shelness has been posting on Strangetalk before he wanted to be mayor.

“He’s basically informing students about his opinions and that’s the way to do it,” Vijayakumar said. “They’re concerning issues about the city. I personally don’t follow politics, but he’s using [Strangetalk] as a student outreach and it doesn’t bother me.”

Vijayakumar said Strangetalk has been used in the past by other candidates, including Government of the Student Body members. “It’s not the first time this has happened,” Vijayakumar said.

Shelness said he began posting on the online message board for learning purposes.

“I thought it would be educational to go on Strangetalk and learn about the message boards and challenge the students out there,” Shelness said.

He warned that his campaign methods have taken him into uncharted political territory.

“What happens on Strangetalk isn’t appropriate anywhere else,” Shelness said. “There are things that are not appropriate to be discussed outside of the disgusting culture that is Strangetalk.”

Shelness’ efforts, however, may be costly – Mosiman said although 18- to 24-year-old individuals comprise the second-largest group of registered voters, they are historically known to not vote.

“It’s an interesting audience because if you can get them to repeatedly vote they can make a big different in an election,” Mosiman said.

The largest group of registered voters are 25- to 34-year-olds, which make up 33 percent of voters. 18- to 24-year-olds make up 27 percent of voters – more than 15,000 individuals – but whether they vote in the election on Nov. 8 will remain to be seen.

In contrast, mayoral candidate Ann Campbell is taking a more traditional approach than her opponent.

“I have neighborhood coffees, or what I call round-table dialog,” she said. “It’s a great way to get to know people from all walks of life.”