Elliot Sanchez, Student Government Association president, nearly resigned on March 5 so that he could officially endorse Cade Cypriano in the upcoming presidential election. He decided to hand in his resignation because he believed SGA rules prohibited the president from endorsing a candidate.
However, Sanchez discovered three hours before he was to announce his intentions publicly that the standing president actually can personally endorse a candidate, as long as the endorsement isn’t coming from a whole SGA branch.
Sanchez gave his endorsement speech – minus the resignation – by the St. Ignatius of Loyola statue around 4 p.m. to a small crowd of Cypriano’s supporters.
“No one has a better idea of the problems facing the president specifically than I do,” Sanchez said. “This election is too important … I would’ve been willing to resign.”
Sanchez mentioned Cypriano’s SGA experience as the main reason for his endorsement.
This is the first time in recent years that an SGA president has endorsed a candidate, which was the major reason Sanchez believed he had to resign. Adam Kohler, SGA vice president, would have taken Sanchez’s place if this had happened.
“I don’t want to come across that I’m doing anything but expressing my personal opinion,” Sanchez said, adhering to the SGA election bylaw that “the Student Government Association (Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches), as a whole, is prohibited from endorsing any candidate.”
Bob Payne, chief justice of SGA, informed Sanchez of the court’s interpretation of the SGA’s constitution. Any member of SGA who is directly involved in the election process cannot endorse someone, such as the chief justice, students on the court of review, students on the elections board or anyone from the administration. However, Sanchez, who can only vote in the general election, can endorse a candidate.
Abbey Brandon, mass communication freshman and Cypriano supporter, agrees with the interpretation.
“We’re all entitled to our own opinion,” she said. “He could share that information in casual conversation.”
Cypriano, who stood next to Sanchez, was pleased by the endorsement. “It gives my campaign a sense of momentum,” he said.
Greg Fontenot, Cypriano’s opponent, was “disappointed” by Sanchez’s endorsement, Fontenot said.
“Due to their close relationship in the SGA office this year, I believe it’s understandable,” he said. “I believe that we have a very strong support group,” he added. “We’re not shaken by this.”
Sanchez began to talk about resigning to endorse Cypriano on March 3. He informed Fontenot of his endorsement before he made it public. He also said he’ll assist the elected president during the transition, regardless of who wins.
Whether the endorsement will affect student votes remains to be seen.
“Who’s Elliot Sanchez?” Justin Bixler, psychology senior, asked.
“I think if Elliot had ushered in a golden age at Loyola, it would matter more,” Joseph Palomino, English literature senior, said.
Katie Urbaszewski can be reached at [email protected].
