Student council elections soon, may run: thoughts?

[Vosem]

Student council elections are coming up soon, and of the confirmed 'candidates', I am the only person who has not publicly announced which office they are running for (+ two that registered to be candidates, but decided not to run). So, I'd like to hear your thoughts on the field, what I should do, and some student-council-campaign strategies.

President:
Candidate #1: Popular; male, but not very athletic. Generally considered to be the front-runner, although I would say he's a weak front-runner, as he is not well-liked in some circles (ie, many of the jocks hate him). Ran for President last year, lost by several votes.
Incumbent President: Of average popularity; female, very short. Although she is personally actually poorly known, she nevertheless has a base of around 15-20% that will vote for her against almost anyone else in Student Council. Managed to pull off an upset last year; this is generally believed to be because of vote splitting (although she ran by far the most active campaign). There is a chance of another upset.
Candidate #2: Minor candidate, of average popularity; ran for President last year and did very poorly. Unlikely to do any better this year. Is actually more likely to take votes from the  incumbent President than Candidate #1.

Vice President:
Incumbent Vice President: A close friend of mine; very popular, female, essentially unbeatable. In spite of popular opinion believing it was a close race, she was elected in a double-digit landslide last year. There is no chance of anyone running against her, as whoever that might be, they would be lucky to get 5 votes.

Secretary:
Candidate #3: Female, popular. Also unusually short, though not as short as the incumbent President. Ran for President last year, and came in a distant third -- is generally considered to have split the vote allowing the incumbent President to win. She is not very smart, but is nevertheless probably a slam-dunk.

Treasurer:
Incumbent Secretary: Chose to switch offices for reasons unknown. Female, popular. Of average height. Another good friend of mine. Was elected Secretary narrowly -- is the favorite to be elected Treasurer.
Candidate #4: A bit of a nerd; is second in the school. Is also an albino, so there may be some sympathy vote there. Is the only candidate on the list who did not run for anything last year. Winning is unlikely but I think he may do unexpectedly well.

And then there's me. I ran for President last year and came in fourth, having run a weak campaign, behind the Incumbent President, Candidate #1, and Candidate #3, though ahead of Candidate #2. Considering she beat me last year and that it would be a simple one-on-one match, whereas the Presidential race is a multi-player event and there is a significant demographic who will be unsatisfied with all choices, I'm leaning towards running for President, though I doubt I can win anything, so perhaps I shouldn't run.

What should I run for (if anything), and if I do run, what should my campaign strategy be?

[Simfan34]

This whole thing is a popularity contest, but run for Sec. I guess. What is your popularity? What is your height- and why is important? Just how seriously is this all taken?

[Vosem]

This whole thing is a popularity contest, but run for Sec. I guess. What is your popularity? What is your height- and why is important?

The height's unimportant -- it's just a bit of a running joke that the shortest candidate always wins, since that's what happened last year. I'm moderately popular, perhaps a little better than average, but my problem is that in every contest the sort of people who would vote for me have a candidate they would rather vote for -- Candidate #1, Candidate #3, and the incumbents. I personally am friendly with both incumbents and Candidate #3 but not Candidate #1, who I've never gotten along with, which is one of the reasons I'm leaning towards running for President -- even if I don't win, I may split the vote and get the incumbent President reelected.

[Simfan34]

This whole thing is a popularity contest, but run for Sec. I guess. What is your popularity? What is your height- and why is important?

The height's unimportant -- it's just a bit of a running joke that the shortest candidate always wins, since that's what happened last year. I'm moderately popular, perhaps a little better than average, but my problem is that in every contest the sort of people who would vote for me have a candidate they would rather vote for -- Candidate #1, Candidate #3, and the incumbents. I personally am friendly with both incumbents and Candidate #3 but not Candidate #1, who I've never gotten along with, which is one of the reasons I'm leaning towards running for President -- even if I don't win, I may split the vote and get the incumbent President reelected.

Surely such things are unimportant in this context? Or are you expecting a patronage position? I say go with what you want, but again how seriously is this all taken. In some places the StuCo actually has a fair degree of power and importance. In others, like mine, it takes an advisory and organizational role in student affairs alone.

[Хahar 🤔]

Why do you care about this? Is there anything that you want to accomplish that would require being elected to the student council?

[Vosem]

This whole thing is a popularity contest, but run for Sec. I guess. What is your popularity? What is your height- and why is important?

The height's unimportant -- it's just a bit of a running joke that the shortest candidate always wins, since that's what happened last year. I'm moderately popular, perhaps a little better than average, but my problem is that in every contest the sort of people who would vote for me have a candidate they would rather vote for -- Candidate #1, Candidate #3, and the incumbents. I personally am friendly with both incumbents and Candidate #3 but not Candidate #1, who I've never gotten along with, which is one of the reasons I'm leaning towards running for President -- even if I don't win, I may split the vote and get the incumbent President reelected.

Surely such things are unimportant in this context? Or are you expecting a patronage position? I say go with what you want, but again how seriously is this all taken. In some places the StuCo actually has a fair degree of power and importance. In others, like mine, it takes an advisory and organizational role in student affairs alone.

There are no formal positions past the four I've listed above. The StuCo's job is to organize prom, and raise money for it years in advance. StuCos can try to influence the administration, but have no 'real' authority. That said, there are 4 StuCos - a freshman StuCo (ours), a sophomore StuCo, a junior StuCo, and a senior StuCo. Ours is dysfunctional, because very few of the members give a , and those that do are generally the ones jockying for one of the offices. However, the sophomore StuCo is very efficient and totally dominated by their President -- it has more money than the other three combined and frequently tries to advise the school. The President organized a powerful political machine to be elected during the last election.

My motivation, in running for President, is keeping Candidate #1 from winning (or, at best, getting elected myself, though the likeliest result is a solid third place) -- in running for Secretary, my goal would be winning, which would be more difficult than siphoning votes from Candidate #1.

Why do you care about this? Is there anything that you want to accomplish that would require being elected to the student council?

Yes; actually getting elected would look good on my college application, and then I hold a grudge against Candidate #1.

[Meeker]

Why are you so concerned with the height of the various female candidates?

[Vosem]

Why are you so concerned with the height of the various female candidates?

it's just a bit of a running joke that the shortest candidate always wins

[Meeker]

Oh.

If you're really looking for something to help with college applications I'd suggest going outside of school and finding some sort of neat community service project or organization to get involved with or start. My student council experience was probably the thing college admissions officers were least interested in (and I say this as a former student body president).

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

I was planning to run for class president in this month's election. I've mentioned it here before, but my opponents are:

Incumbent President: Mathematically among the toughest possible opponents to defeat. A popular, athletic, intelligent, and Asian girl who unlike the majority of the populars is a decent person and a friend. However, I want influence in the conferences that the class leadership actually gets to have with the school administration. Last year I lost by roughly a 63-37 margin. Rather apolitical, it seems.

"Third Party" Also Asian, but a male and the exact stereotype of the nerdy Asian: math and science nerd. Nice guy, but has rather low name recognition with the everyman in the sophomore class. He ran last year as well and got a distant third to me and my opponent.

Anyway, best of luck.

[Oakvale]

It's always weird when the high school kids here try to treat joke student council politics as if it's real politics and similar principles can be applied.

[tmthforu94]

Well, I'm currently Student Body and Senior Class President. I could give you a few strategies I used, though it may be different for us, as I go to a smaller school where everyone pretty much knows everyone.

[CLARENCE 2015!]

From my time in the Homeowners Association I can tell you- the more petty the office, the more brutal the politics...

Go for it Vosem- and good luck!

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

I'm currently embroiled in a scheme to be elected VP. Once this computer is finally hooked up to a scanner, my campaign poster (drawn by a friend) shall be unveiled.

@Clarence: sounds nice! I've always held a fantasy that either school politics or local politics go full blown and serious.