Second candidate enters UA presidential race

The race to be the first-ever Undergraduate Assembly president is on.

In a meeting Wednesday night, College junior and current UA associate member Grant Dubler declared his candidacy for the office in front of approximately 45 fellow students.

With Dubler’s announcement ­— which included a short speech, a video presentation and an open question-and-answer session­ — the presidential election is now officially contested.

Prior to Wednesday, only current UA Vice Chair for External Affairs Matt Amalfitano, a College junior, had declared his candidacy.

Though Amalfitano publicized his intentions before Dubler, “for people who know me, they’re not going to be that surprised,” Dubler said.

Dubler clarified that although Amalfitano held a leadership position on campus last semester while Dubler was abroad, Dubler hopes to reach every student on campus — not only UA members.

Amalfitano “has had the opportunity in the past to do more than I have,” Dubler said, but “to anyone who is not a UA insider, Matt’s just a guy, I’m just a guy, and we want to get our ideas out there.”

Amalfitano also stressed that the new format of UA elections ­— which includes positions for a directly-elected President and Vice President — lends itself to a contested election.

“When the reform happened, the way people are elected to student government completely changed,” he said, emphasizing that he “never had any intention of taking anything for granted” in the election.

Nevertheless, he added, “the system is different, but experience and ideas still make you a good candidate.”

At the same time, Dubler said he believes his status as the “underdog” will serve him well in the new system.

“Students will have the opportunity to choose the leader in the UA,” he said. “It used to be decided by 33 people in a little room... Really, I think, I have a better shot” with the new format.

Though monetary campaigns do not begin until March 17, Amalfitano and Dubler agreed that the race will be exciting.

“I really look forward to running against [Dubler],” Amalfitano said. “Though I don’t even know if it’s running against him, I think that it’s running with him. ... It will be good for the future of student government and of Penn.”

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