After a contested election last year, this year's executive ticket is running unopposed. Undergraduate Student Government Polytechnic candidates for president, vice president of service and vice president of policy are therefore set for the 2026-27 academic year.
Roberto Ortiz-Gonzalez will serve as USGP president, Praghathi Arun Senthil as vice president of policy and Clare Wiegman as vice president of services for her second time.
Voting for this year's USG election will open March 31 and close April 1.
Heading up the ticket is current Vice President of Policy Ortiz-Gonzalez, a sophomore studying engineering. He said the most important aspect of being part of USG is interacting with students every day.
Ortiz-Gonzalez said students come up to him and say they recognize him from the Instagram videos on the USGP account, but say they don't participate much in campus activities. He then takes that as an opportunity to give them a run-down of what USG is and what it does for the students of each campus, giving them an invitation to apply, but also allowing them to explore more of their school and their campus.
Wiegman, a junior studying aeronautical management technology, will return to her position as USGP vice president of services. She said many people do not realize that it is the students of USG who advocate on behalf of the student body for changes on campus, but many people do not recognize that the student government is behind it, so they do not always get praised for it.
"It's great to know that I am making a change and a difference for students," Wiegman said. "Just knowing that I'm leaving ASU better than I found it is the thing that helps me, grounds me in USG."
Arun Senthil, a sophomore studying human systems engineering, is the current director of inclusive excellence and will be the next vice president of policy. She said the most rewarding part of being in USG is the tight-knit community that is created between them and student leaders.
"Hearing those thoughts (of) students, knowing that I'm making a change in students' lives, hearing that they felt supported, empowered through my events," Arun Senthil said.
The USGP executive ticket platform is summarized in three pillars: empowering student clubs and organizations, professional development opportunities, and financial transparency and connecting students with leadership.
"We really want to uplift student organizations and streamline communications toward them," Arun Senthil said about the empower student clubs and organizations pillar.
She said, especially since the campus is small and, for the majority, is a commuter-based campus, they want to host events advocating for commuters, streamline the process of getting funding to student organizations and provide access for students to submit feedback to USGP.
Within the professional development opportunities pillar, the ticket wants to continue to give students, who may not have access on their own, access to resources and events, such as the Dress for Success event and an event speaking to professionals about their career experience.
"Polytechnic is really focused on career and professional development," Wiegman said. "That's what our students are really passionate about."
Ortiz-Gonzalez said a major focus of the organization for next year will be on financial transparency and connecting students with leadership.
How Ortiz-Gonzalez wants to execute that is by continuing his "Monday Minutes" – a weekly video on the USGP Instagram to help students become more connected with the campus and student government – and "Finance Friday" – a biweekly video, also on their Instagram, to help students understand where their money is going.
Wiegman said what the ticket is really passionate about implementing next year is doing things based on student feedback.
"If we're doing stuff and we spent all this time, money, energy on doing it, and the students don't actually want it, it's not something they're going to benefit from," Wiegman said. "It's not something we should be doing even if it's something me as an individual is really passionate about."
The results of the election will be certified by ASASU from April 2-9. It will also include the winners of each college-based senate seat, judges and election commissioners for each campus.
Edited by Senna James, Jack McCarthy and Ellis Preston.
Reach the reporter at elbradfo@asu.edu and follow @emmalbradford__ on X.
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Emma Bradford is a senior reporter for The State Press. She has previously worked at the Cronkite News Washington, D.C. bureau as a politics and money reporter. Bradford is currently also an editorial intern for AZ Big Media. She is in her fifth Semester with The State Press, previously working on the politics desk as both a part-time and a lead reporter.
