College Republicans hold elections
On-campus political club transitions to new leadership
Relinquishing his title of chairman for the College Republicans at Liberty University, Zach Martin led his final meeting on election night for the unofficial club, Thursday, Sept. 29.
Passing the torch — Former College Republicans Chairman Zach Martin (far left) poses with the group’s new leaders. Photo credit: Tabitha Cassidy
Elections, according to Martin, are generally held in April. However, with a job offer from Senator Steve Newman, Martin said he needed to step down and give others a chance to show their leadership potential before presidential elections “snuck up” on everybody.
This unexpected event saw the election of five individuals in leadership positions within the College Republicans at Liberty University, more commonly known as CRLU. Every candidate ran unopposed.
“It’s a huge compliment to the leaders and the people that are in this room when other people are not running against anyone,” Martin said. “Because what that says is that people … know they’re competent enough to run the organization.”
According to Martin, two individuals were initially running against others, but because of friendships, the current officers’ opponents stepped down.
Nathan Lowmaster did not receive the news that he was the only candidate campaigning for treasurer until after the election finished.
The five members elected to leadership positions, according to the CRLU website, were Kristin Handy as chairman, Tom Oth as first vice chairman, Caroline Biggs as second vice chairman, Nicole Daniel as executive secretary and Nathan Lowmaster as treasurer.
A total of 41 people showed up to the election, but only those who have been members for one calendar week or more were eligible to vote.
The CRLU generally boasts meetings filled with anywhere between 30 and 150 people, Martin said. The time the meeting is held, how much homework certain members have and even if something like College For A Weekend is in town all contribute to the attendance numbers, he said.
Speaking on the new leadership getting ready to take over, Martin said he was very happy to be turning it over to competent individuals.
“They bring a lot of experience to the table in very different fields,” Martin said.