He’ll give you cupcakes.

Russell Graves wants to be the next Government of the Student Body president. He has never belonged to GSB and considers that one of his strengths.

Graves, senior in computer engineering, and his running mate, Dave Stout, senior in management information systems, are the third and final pair of candidates to enter this year’s race for GSB president and vice president.

The two will be running against a team of current GSB members, Sophia Magil, GSB Panhellenic senator, and running mate William Rock, GSB vice speaker of the senate.

The other ticket consists of Drew Miller, GSB off-campus senator, and running mate Jenn Riggs, senior in anthropology.

After formerly announcing their campaigns, the next step for each slate is to round up 1,500 signatures in support of its candidacy. The petitions are due Feb. 17, with a general election slated for March 8 and 9.

“Free cupcake days” may seem like an unusual issue to use in a plank, but there’s more to the candidacy, Graves said.

If elected, he said he will ask for regular student opinion polls, greater GSB accessibility to students and fostering “a more reasonable perspective of what GSB is capable of.”

`Graves, a CyRide driver who has driven the Moonlight Express route for nearly two years, said many of the views he would represent as president come from knowledge he’s gained from his passengers.

“I think GSB needs to start working on being taken seriously by students,” Graves said. “And one way to do that is to not promise them the moon. People see GSB as promising a lot, and delivering very little.”

Graves isn’t the only GSB outsider running. Riggs, who will seek the vice president seat with Drew Miller, said her position as an outsider has provided her with her own unique perspective on GSB problems.

“I’ve only viewed it from a distance. Honestly, the No. 1 reason I’m excited about running with Andrew is that the first significant thing they’ve done this year was the voter registration drive,” Riggs said.

Miller and Riggs’ plan, if elected, would further the voter registration drive by coordinating it with the nationwide New Voters Project. They said they hope to register 9,000 students next year.

Miller and Riggs said they consider themselves to have the best position among this year’s executive hopefuls, because they provide a mix between experience and inexperience. Miller said he feels his time as GSB senator gives him an edge over his competitors.

“I think that, for me, I’ve accomplished more with one year of GSB experience than [Magil and Rock] have accomplished with their combined three,” Miller said.

He said he doesn’t know much about Graves and Stout, but because they aren’t experienced with GSB, he said he doesn’t think they would be able to serve students as effectively.

Miller and Riggs’ platform includes developing the GSB Web page, working with developers to turn the closed Ames Theater, 2420 Lincoln Way, into a hangout for college students and coordinating a recycling program.

Rock said many of Miller and Riggs’ goals are similar to his and Magil’s. The difference, he said, is in completion of those goals.

“The difference is actually putting the ideas into action,” Magil said.

Magil and Rock said they represent the most experienced of the three groups.

Their campaign centers on communication among various governing bodies related to Iowa State, as well as improving relations between students and GSB.

“What we really want to portray with our campaign is that, yes, we’re on the GSB, but that doesn’t make us all high and mighty,” Rock said. “We’re students first. We have to go to classes and get loans and stuff just like everyone else.”