This election season, UF’s two political parties were invited to three debates, but only one will feature both parties.
UF Pride Student Union and Women’s Student Association, as well as Asian American Student Union planned two separate debates for the first time and asked Swamp Party and Access Party to participate. Swamp declined both invitations, citing time conflicts, while Access accepted both.
Pride and WSA planned their debate for today, but it was canceled on Saturday because Swamp Party had a time conflict, said PSU President Collin Vernay.
Swamp Party President and spokesman Ricky Salabarria said Joseph Michaels and Tia Smart, Swamp Party Student Body presidential and vice presidential candidates, had an exam during the debate. PSU chose to cancel the debate, rather than hosting it with only Access.
“We don’t want, as an organization, to appear too partisan,” Vernay said.
Gaby Larios, external vice president of Pride, said she was upset the debate was canceled.
“I’m disappointed that we’re not having a debate to specially address issues pertinent to the LGBTQ+ community because we’ve been historically left out of Student Government,” she said. “By not having a debate, our voices are continued to be silenced.”
Another student organization, AASU, organized a debate for both parties for Thursday at 6:30 p.m. in the Computer and Science Engineering Building in Room A101.
On Saturday, Swamp declined to attend this debate because of time conflicts, said AASU President Stephanie Wong, but Access will be present.
In an email to Wong, Salabarria mentioned the time conflicts, but said Swamp plans on attending the Freshman Leadership Council debate.
“We want to be fair to every organization,” Salabarria said.
He said the party consulted with the UF Supervisor of Elections, Hans Rojas, about the debates, and Rojas recommended only the FLC debate.
Rojas said his opinion is just a recommendation that parties are not obligated to follow.
“I only support the SG-sponsored debate,” Rojas said.
Access Party President Matthew Hoeck said the party still plans to attend the AASU debate even though Swamp Party declined.
“How can you claim to represent so many student organizations and not take the time to have a debate where their concerns are addressed?” Hoeck said.
The remaining debate, hosted by Freshman Leadership Council, will be held at 6 p.m. in the University Auditorium on Feb. 17. Doors open at 5:30 p.m., and everyone is welcome.
[A version of this story ran on page 1 on 2/9/2015 under the headline “Swamp Party declines two debate invites"]
