For the first time ever, The California Aggie publishes full transcripts of endorsement interviews
Every fall and winter, The California Aggie Editorial Board offers each candidate running for a position in ASUCD the chance to sit down and be interviewed for a potential endorsement.
The Board can endorse up to six candidates for Senate, one Executive ticket, one candidate for external affairs vice president (EAVP) and one candidate for student advocate. This year, the Editorial Board chose to endorse three candidates for Senate (Shreya Deshpande and Alexis Lopez from the BASED slate and Derek Foster from the Thrive slate), one candidate for EAVP (Adam Hatefi, independent) and one candidate for student advocate (Ashley Lo, nonpartisan).
In an effort to be as transparent as possible, this year, for the first time ever, the Board has decided to publish the entire transcript of each of these endorsement interviews. It is the Board’s hope that these transcripts will help voters make informed decisions when choosing who to vote for.
The following transcripts have been edited for length and clarity.
Click on a candidate’s name to be taken to the transcript of their interview:
- Senate:
- Alex Cohen — Thrive
- Shreya Deshpande — BASED
- Laura Elizalde — BASED
- Lucas Fong — Thrive
- Derek Foster — Thrive
- Amanjot Gandhoke — Thrive
- Jonathan Iniguez — Thrive
- Alexis Lopez — BASED
- Roberto Rodriguez Ibarra — Independent
- Madeline Thompson — Thrive
- Tenzin Youedon — BASED
- Executive Ticket:
- Alisha Hacker and Justin Weiner — Thrive
- Kyle Krueger and Akhila Kandaswamy — BASED
- External Affairs Vice President
- Adam Hatefi — Independent
- Maria Martinez — Thrive
- Student Advocate
- Ashley Lo — Nonpartisan
Written by: The Editorial Board
