Cardenas beats Conway in student organization endorsements

ASUNM presidential candidate Lazaro “Laz” Cardenas received twice the number of student organization endorsements than his opponent.
Ten organizations including three residence hall community associations, the Residence Hall Association and assorted other groups endorsed Cardenas.
David Conway, Cardenas’ opponent, received five — three from fraternities and sororities.

Erin Garcia, president of the Santa Clara/Laguna De Vargas halls’ community association, said her organization endorsed Cardenas, a resident adviser, because he is motivated and capable.

“Laz is a very honest person,” she said. “He has a lot of motivation, and he really cares about the community around UNM. Plus, since we have worked with him as an RA being a part of SC/LDV, we know him fairly well and we know what he’s capable of.”

However, Garcia said Cardenas’ involvement in residence halls is not what compelled her group to endorse him.

“Even if he wasn’t an RA, just knowing the person that he is and knowing the work that he has done, that’s one reason why we chose him,” she said.
Bridgette Madrid, president of Pi Beta Phi, said her sorority endorsed Conway because he’s personable and a natural leader.

“As a whole, my sorority really understands the importance of putting a good leader in a high position such as ASUNM president,” she said. “If anybody knows David, they know that he’ll be the absolute perfect candidate for this position — not to say anything bad about the other candidates.”

Madrid said she couldn’t guess why more Greek organizations endorsed Conway than Cardenas, especially since both men are in fraternities.
Brian Moore, ASUNM elections chair, said this year’s distribution of student organization endorsements is less one-sided than last year.

“Last year, I think the split was a bit more lopsided,” he said. “Both slates are running very competitive campaigns. They’re clearly doing an excellent job of reaching out to students and getting them interested in the election.”

Moore also said that the turnout for the early voting election is nearly double that of last year. Moore said 647 students voted early April 8, up from around 350 people last year.

“Hopefully that will translate into a similar turnout on election day,” he said.
Moore attributes the rise in early voting to increased student outreach on behalf of the slates as well as hot-button issues that arose just before election time.
“I think that both slates have really done a spectacular job in reaching out to students,” he said. “There have been a couple of issues that sort of arose right before the election — the issue of student fees that both slates were able to sort of tie into that.”

The organizations that endorsed Conway were Alpha Chi Omega, Howl Raisers, Kappa Delta Chi, Pi Beta Phi and the Hokona Hall Community Association.

And the organizations that endorsed Cardenas included the SC/LDV Community Association, LULAC Young Adults of UNM, Chi Omega, Anime Club, Honors Student Advisory Council, Invisible Children, Coronado Hall Community Association, SRC Community Association, Omega Delta Phi and the Residence Hall Association.