As the election approaches for University of Iowa students to make their choice, two teams are vying for the top spots to run the Undergraduate Student Government for the 2024-25 academic year.

Elections will be held March 25-27, and results will be announced on March 29.

Addison Eckard and Brenda Ramirez

Addison Eckard, a UI third-year student, is running for president with vice president candidate UI third-year student Brenda Ramirez.

From Bakersfield, California, Eckard is studying biology with a minor in religious studies and gender health and equity in health care. She joined USG her first year at the UI, and currently serves as the speaker of the senate.

Eckard is running for president with the intention of restoring relationships with student and campus organizations. Eckard said in the past, USG has struggled to maintain said relationships, and she is interested in connecting with students on a deeper level.

“At the end of the day, the people we need to be talking with the most is students,” Eckard said. “And so, I’m really excited about getting to rebuild some of those relationships and hopefully leave them for the next administration to pick up.”

From Brown Lake, Illinois, Ramirez is a first-generation student and is studying political science and economics with a writing certificate. Ramirez currently serves as USG’s Director of External Relations.

As vice president, Ramirez wants to offer accessible help to students and organizations on campus. She emphasized that she values being “on the ground” and working closely with students.

“My main goal with this administration is that we go to them, I don’t want them to feel like they have to come to us,” Ramirez said. “I’m more than happy to go to that to like, send them the emails to be like, ‘Let’s do this.’”

As the only two female candidates on the ballot, Eckard and Ramirez are excited to bring change to the university and connect with student organizations.

“We’re really excited about the opportunity to get to fight for these students to continue to have their spaces and have their voices heard and ensuring that they have a seat at the table no matter what,” said Eckard.

JB Bartlett and Noah LeFevre

Jaden Bartlett is running for president with Noah LeFevre as his vice president candidate. Bartlett is a third-year UI student double majoring in English and creative writing and political science. Having the position of Internal Affairs Chair for USG, Bartlett is also involved in peer mentoring and Hawk the Vote.

Bartlett said he most enjoyed participating in financial assistance to help student organizations and the study body through USG.

“We can help [financially] in a lot of ways that students don’t know about,” Bartlett said.

Bartlett said USG can be quiet with student issues that are politically divisive which is something he wants to change. Bartlett wants USG to focus on vocal advocacy for issues on and off campus that influences students.

“Just because something is outside of the university does not mean it doesn’t have an impact here,” Bartlett said.

LeFevre, Bartlett’s USG vice president candidate, is a UI third-year student studying social studies education and political science with hopes of becoming a history teacher. LeFevre is the treasurer for the Undergraduate Political Science Association and currently holds the position of City Liaison for USG.

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LeFevre said his favorite part about his position with USG is advocating for students at Iowa City City Council meetings.

“A lot of the work has been largely closing the gap between the university and the city of Iowa City,” LeFevre stated.

Sharing a lot of values and history with his presidential partner, LeFevre discussed his experience attending city council meetings and noticed that there are always students that spoke.

“It’s not like we don’t have any more power than the City of Iowa City government does, but that minor amount of power gets us a seat at the table and gets us to talk,” LeFevere said.

Candidate team withdraws

UI students Austin Sachtschale and Skyler Chambers officially announced the suspension of their USG presidential campaign on Thursday.

In an email to The Daily Iowan, Chambers said he and Sachtschale decided to end their campaign due to financial and logistical complications.

Chambers added that they hope to run for USG president and vice president in the future.