Tyler Jacon drops out; 3 still in running for student body president

Junior Tyler Jacon has officially withdrawn his candidacy for student body president.

Jacon said he ended his campaign after his small team couldn’t keep up with the larger teams of the other candidates.

“We could only do so much with a few people,” Jacon said.

Along with recanting his campaign, Jacon gave his full endorsement to junior Kathryn Walker.

Jacon said he was impressed with Walker’s stance on sexual assault and believes her policy is the most attainable. He said he is proud of his campaign’s efforts on sexual assault.

“We put sexual assault into the election more than it was going to be discussed,” he said.

He said he thinks Walker has the most to offer student government.

“As for representation, she is the candidate to break up the ‘boy’s club’ that student government has become,” said Jacon in his statement withdrawing from the race.

Walker said she is excited to have Jacon on her side and believes it is a step in the right direction for her.

“I am happy he believes in what I’m trying to do here at Carolina,” Walker said.

With Jacon out of the race, three candidates are still vying for student body president: Walker, Houston Summers and David Marsh.

“I think it’s narrowing the field. I think it’s coming up and ultimately leading us to a place to decide who really does have the best and most substantive ideas,” Summers said.

Marsh agreed that having fewer candidates means an easier decision for the voters.

“Less choices means people can really get a good decision and don’t have to look through five different 30-page platforms to make a decision,” Marsh said.

That being said, the candidates are still not officially running for student body president yet.

Summers, Walker and Marsh all submitted their list of petition signatures to the Board of Elections to be counted, but only Summers gained enough to qualify for the ballot.

Walker is 53 signatures short of the required 1,250, and Marsh is 49 signatures short. Both have been granted an extra 24 hours to campaign and complete their lists.

Once Walker and Marsh have turned in their signatures, the Board of Elections will count them and announce who is officially running for student body president this week.

Those official candidates will campaign until Feb. 10, the day of the election.

“I think we’re all ready to know who’s going to be our next student body president,” Summers said.

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