For sophomore junior Adrian Barnello, the unfilled Student Government Association (SGA) positions were opportunities. Missing the date to register as a candidate, Barnello would not be on the ballot and had to campaign as a write-in candidate. But this setback meant voters wouldn’t recognize his name. So, Barnello thought of a way to stand out.
“I was thinking about it,” Barnello said. “and what’s catchier: ‘Hi, I’m Adrian Barnello and I’m running for director of communications,’ or, ‘Hi, I’m Adrian and I’m running for everything”?
Barnello’s campaign involved flyers that satirized the slogans of presidential candidates Michael Grosch and Javier Cardenas. Barnello said his campaign was meant to be ironic and shouldn’t be taken as an insult.
Barnello ran for every SGA position available, and was offered the director of communications slot. He placed second for the comptroller position. He received 18 write-in votes for director of communications and 21 votes for comptroller. Barnello also received votes for every SGA position, some of which he wasn’t applicable for due to his major. He even received 15 write-in votes for the position of SGA president. Because the first-place winner for comptroller turned down the position, Barnello had a choice between the two seats. He chose to take the director of communications spot.
“I’ve always been better at communicating with people,” Barnello said. “They said that director of communications had a lot to do with social media. (With) comptroller, you exclusively have to deal with money. I’m not as good with numbers as I am talking to people. I’ll leave that to somebody who’s a little better at that.”
But with Barnello taking the director of communications slot, the comptroller position still remained empty.
The third write-in candidate for comptroller accepted the position.
Barnello said he wants to talk with the current director of communications, as well as the SGA executive board, to see what actions he will take with his new position.
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