The 2024 Student Government presidential election features several rarities, including an incumbent president who was not elected and instead assumed the office after the first presidential resignation in 41 years, running against a ticket that holds the incumbent vice president.
The Student Government elections will take place Tuesday and Wednesday, and ballots will be emailed to students’ Iowa State email addresses.
Experience and electoral history
Student Government President Jennifer Holliday, a senior triple majoring in agricultural studies, international agriculture and journalism and mass communication, has been involved in Student Government since her freshman year and was elected as vice president in the 2023 election with her running mate Emily Roberts. In August, Roberts resigned and Holliday became the 71st student body president.
Despite serving since then, Holliday believes “there’s always more to accomplish.”
“We also got a late start on [our initiatives] this past fall because of the transition from me being vice president to being president,” Holliday said. “So when that transition happened, there was so many other things that we needed to prioritize to make sure that Student Government could stay afloat and be as productive as possible for students.”
Holliday told the Daily in August she chose to nominate Quinn Margrett to become the 74th student body vice president because he was “the right individual with the right experience.”
However, Holliday’s running mate this year is Sen. Sydney Jones, a junior in political science who was confirmed to the Senate representing the United Residents Off-Campus in September.
Margrett, a sophomore in business economics, is running for vice president with Finance Director Martin Hursh, a sophomore in economics. Hursh has also been involved with Student Government since his freshman year and said his experience as finance director qualifies him to be president.
“I’ve ran a very successful committee,” Hursh said. “I’ve talked to countless student organizations on campus. I mean, during help sessions alone, we had over, I think I want to say, 85 student organizations come in and go to the help sessions, and they’re going to request funding from Student Government.”
Campaign platforms
The Hursh/Margrett campaign has eight platform points:
- Hold a free concert for all students at Jack Trice Stadium
- Expand non-ISU Dining food options on campus
- Making prep week a “real break”
- Host a “know your leaders” town hall series
- Hold an international career fair
- Launch a roommate compatibility form
- Create a task force on food insecurity
- Submit feedback to the city by messaging the mayor
Hursh said he is running to “do really great things for students” and that his first priority is the free concert at Jack Trice Stadium.
“There’s a lot of things that have to happen in place for us to accomplish it, but the purpose of the free concert is to obviously [one], provide this for students on campus at absolutely no cost to them,” Hursh said. “Two, be able to use this as a fundraising tool so that we can allocate more money to student organizations on campus. And number three, not increase our student activity fee.”
The Holliday/Jones campaign has 12 campaign platform points:
- Collaboration with the Faculty Senate for a syllabus statement on students’ academic rights
- Increasing opportunities for students to celebrate homecoming week
- Partner with the International Students and Scholars Office to create a mentorship group between international and domestic students
- Establish mental and physical well-being resource training for academic advisers
- Reduce stigma about sexual violence on campus through increased prevention education
- Increase accessibility of on-campus resources needed for students to obtain accommodations and diagnoses
- Diversify members of the Iowa State University Police Department advisory board
- Ensure the scheduling of programs, lectures and events are tailored and accommodating to graduate students
- Provide on-campus dining through university breaks
- Develop clarity in the residence hall recycling program
- Facilitate recycling initiatives for off-campus students
- Implement a campus-wide day of service once a semester
Holliday said that all 12 platform points are “truly impactful and important for students.”
“Some of them are more impactful on their well-being here at Iowa State while some of them are more impactful on their social well-being [like] social opportunities for them to participate in,” Holliday said. “So personally, I always think that your physical and mental well-being are top of priority.”
Endorsements
On the Instagram page for the Hursh/Margrett campaign, they have six listed endorsements, which include:
- Former Student Government Finance Director Kit Clayburn
- Student Government Director of Affordability Mytch Hagan
- Vice President of the Inter-Residence Hall Association Braden Fels
- Vice President of the International Student Council Annie Gulick
- President of Gamma Phi Beta Madeline Becker
- President of Delta Sigma Phi Erik Braun
The page also had an endorsement from a representative of Six Pack Coverage, but the post is no longer available. Hursh said the post was taken down because the campaign was unaware the submission of an endorsement form to the Election Commission was required for non-students and that they will reupload the video once that process is complete. According to their website, the company is the “largest college tour in the country.”
The Holliday/Jones campaign Instagram page has six listed endorsements, which include:
- Sigma Alpha-Delta Chapter at Iowa State
- African Students Association at Iowa State
- College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Council President Paige Jergens
- Student Government Sen. Jian Janes
- Agricultural Business Club President Jack Campbell
- Hixson Student Board
The Holliday/Jones campaign team includes Student Government Health and Wellness Director Anna Spahn and Student Government Sens. Josie Pursley, Hannah Everhart and Hunter Schneider.
