Vision Party is the only Student Government political party running in the Fall 2025 election — the first time in recent SG history.
Elections will take place Sept. 29 and 30, and students will vote on 50 candidates. Aside from Vision, only a handful of independent candidates are running. Vision currently holds the majority in the Student Senate.
UF SG elections are split into two cycles: Fall and Spring. During Fall elections, students vote on 50 living-area senators, representing on- and off-campus housing. Spring elections include the remaining senators and the executive branch.
There are 13 on-campus and 37 off-campus seats in the Fall election cycle. While Vision is the only major party participating in this election, independent candidates Timothy Dillehay, Gabrielle Ontiveros and Kayla Arora are running for the Yulee Hall, Hume Hall and off-campus spots, respectively.
Vision’s Platform
Vision Party was founded in 2023 when members of the Gator and Change parties were frustrated by gridlock and political polarization within SG. Its core values are inclusion, unity and transparency. In the past, Vision has advocated for sustainability regulations such as compost bins in dining halls and mental health resources through the Counseling and Wellness Center.
The party plans to address five subsections of goals: academics, on-campus living, student life, safety and sustainability, and student recreation and community. Vision shared online its plans to focus feasibility and action through these subsections.
Academically, the party plans to host study groups and a school supply drive during midterms and finals. Vision’s plan also includes creating Field and Fork Pantry recipe kits and a “Moped Training Course” in collaboration with UFPD. According to the party’s post, students will receive one TAPS ticket dismissal once upon completion of the course.
To improve the on-campus experience, Vision hopes to launch a nighttime security program, update the GatorSafe App, create virtual workout classes and establish inclusion events for PACE and Innovation Academy students.
The party also plans to advocate for creating a Legal Studies minor in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences and implement an advanced search filter in One.UF to help improve students’ academic planning by distinguishing prerequisite and non-prerequisite courses.
Annabella Vigna, a political campaigning master’s student and Vision Party campaign manager, said the party will deliver on its goals.
“We look forward to engaging with students throughout this campaign and ensuring that their voices are not only heard but acted upon,” Vigna said.
Change and Watch – and why they stepped back
Change was founded and first ran in Fall 2021 with the focus of “achieving environmental, racial, gender, and sexual justice and equity on campus.” It was founded on three principles: social justice, equity and representation.
In the past, Change has passed legislation to keep Marston Library open 24/7, established the first arts pantry at UF to give art students supplies, created an on-campus thrift store to sell studies affordable and sustainable clothing and delivered $170,000 to student organizations.
Andrew Larsen, a 20-year-old UF acting junior and a Change Party senator, said the party’s decision not to run made sense. With waning interest, along with substandard performance in the previous elections, Change does “not have the numbers to run a full campaign,” he said.
In the Spring 2025 election, Vision experienced a landslide victory, winning 46 senate seats while Change only won two.
This is the first election in recent UF history in which only one party is running.
It doesn’t mean the Change movement is going away, he added. The party’s senators elected in previous elections remain at the “forefront of the fight for a more equitable, just and representative campus,” he said.
Larsen and an independent colleague co-wrote legislation to address RTS funding cuts. Change senators also wrote a budget amendment that would have kept Marston Science Library open 24/7, but Larsen said Vision senators voted it down almost unanimously.
“While Vision is the only party running, they remain an inadequate representative of the student body,” Larsen said. “They are out of touch with the needs of students and consistently fail to speak up on the issues that affect us most.”
He encouraged students to support the independent candidates.
“These candidates are not only electorally viable, but high quality candidates with tangible plans to improve student life and the skills to implement them,” he said.
The Watch Party chose to boycott the Fall election, said 20-year-old UF philosophy and computer science junior Jordan Hall, a Watch spokesperson.
Hall said the party has spoken to other independent parties like Change, and all of them have collectively agreed not to run.
Watch chose not to run in an election that is “purely unfair and misguided,” he said.
Watch is focusing on filing UF Supreme Court cases to maintain an accurate SG historical record by compiling articles, transcripts, minutes and opinions.
Independent candidates
Timothy Dillehay, a 19-year-old political science and history sophomore, is running as an independent candidate for Yulee.
“There is no larger party whose successes and errors I am responsible for,” Dillehay said.
Dillehay said he seeks to better the student experience by funding things that would benefit students’ everyday lives, such as RTS, dorm hall laundry and 24/7 hours at Marston.
For the Yulee area, he said, he wants to make the freight elevator open to students at certain times, install permanent hammocks outside, install additional washers and dryers and start a pop-up dorm thrift store where students can buy and sell clothes and room decorations.
Gabrielle Ontiveros, a 19-year-old UF psychology sophomore and independent candidate, said she “had an ignition within” her to run for Hume Area senate for the second time.
When Ontiveros went to the Student Engagement Portal to register to run, she said she felt “quite shocked” to see Vision was the only party running. That’s when she decided to register as an independent.
“An uncontested ballot does not allow for any discussion on how students that we elect can contribute to the furthering excellence of our institution,” Ontiveros said. “I myself have friends in the Vision Party whom I deeply appreciate and trust to be in the senate. But I also believe that our senate should not be noted by students as a one party system.”
If she wins the Hume seat, Ontiveros said, she would pass resolutions to improve student wellness, take better care of the community cats, expand recycling, and “help students use the resources that UF is so lush of.”
Kayla Arora, who’s running for an off-campus seat, could not be reached for comment before publication.
Where, when and how
There are eight polling locations around UF’s campus.
- Reitz Union Print Lab - 686 Museum Road
- Normal Hall Education Library - 618 SW 12th St.
- Health Science Center Library - 1249 Center Drive
- Heavener Hall - 1325 West University Ave.
- Law School Commons - 309 Village Drive
- Southwest Recreation Center - 3150 Hull Road
- Keys Complex - 2191 Stadium Road
- Cypress Hall - 1310 Museum Road
To vote, students must go to one of the locations during polling hours — between 8:30 a.m. and 8:30 p.m. — on Sept. 29 or 30 and check-in with a poll worker using a valid ID. Ballots are cast on UF’s voting platform, and students must use their UF GatorLink to login.
Contact Maria Arruda and Angelique Rodriguez at marruda@alligator.org and arodriguez@alligator.org. Follow them on X @mariazalfarruda and @angeliquesrod.
Maria is the Fall 2025 student government reporter for the Alligator. She's a sophomore journalism and political science major at UF and hopes to work as a political correspondent one day! Maria loves to read, hang out with her friends, see her family and go to the gym in her spare time.
Angelique is a first-year journalism major and the Fall 2025 graduate school reporter. In her free time, she'll probably be reading, writing, hanging out with her friends or looking through the newest fashion runway shows on Vogue.
