With eight seats vacant on USF SG’s Senate, current members encourage USF students to run in the midterm elections. ORACLE PHOTO/AUDREY KOCZANSKI
As the seventh consolidated term of the USF Student Government (SG) Senate begins, eight seats are vacant.
The Senate is the highest body in the legislative branch of USF Student Government and is responsible for shaping student policy, appropriating the student budget, and representing the USF student body, according to SG’s website.
The 40 Senate seats are divided among the three USF campuses by population: 31 for Tampa, five for St. Petersburg and four for Sarasota-Manatee, according to SG.
Arjun Manohar, Senate president and public health graduate student, said the vacancies are caused mainly by resignations and occasional low candidate turnout, rather than major problems or widespread lack of interest.
He said that of the vacancies, three are in Tampa, two are in St. Petersburg and three are in Sarasota-Manatee.
“[In Tampa,] one person resigned over the summer, one person resigned the first week of school, and then one person just resigned recently,” Manohar said.
While all seats were filled in the Tampa general election, the St. Petersburg and Sarasota-Manatee campuses were not.
“[In St. Pete,] one person resigned over the summer because they were appointed to a cabinet position in the executive cabinet,” Manohar said. “The other seat was just not filled in the election term last year.”
He said that low candidate turnout is a bigger issue on the St. Petersburg and Sarasota-Manatee campuses, where four of the five seats were not filled because no students ran for them.
“This is something that’s happened in the past as well, where we just had not had enough candidates who [ran] on those campuses,” Manohar said. “I’m not really sure the reason why.”
Manohar said the Student Government process requires all empty seats to be filled by a student body election, so appointments and temporary seats are not granted.
Manohar said the midterm election, which will fill some of these vacancies, is from Oct. 13 to Oct. 14.
The midterm elections can only fill the St. Petersburg seats and one of the Tampa seats, Manohar said.
The other seats were vacated after the deadline to report them for the midterms and will not be available in the election.
The three seats allocated for Sarasota-Manatee will remain vacant until changes to the constitution end their allocation to the campus.
As the Sarasota-Manatee campus prepares to join the New College of Florida, a special transition task force in the Senate prepares to change the structure of student government, Manohar said.
Despite these vacancies, the Senate can operate as long as 70% or more of seats are filled and will continue operating as usual as the midterm elections approach.
“We do have these vacancies, but at the end of the day, we will still be working to serve the student body and do the best of our ability,” Manohar said.
While the Senate can run as usual, Manohar said the vacancies still mean fewer voices and less representation in the room.
“That vacancy is someone who’s not going to be serving in that role, so that does obviously remove some voices from the decisions that we’re making,” he said.
To make sure all students can be heard, the Student Government is preparing for the upcoming midterm elections, where students can run to fill available seats for the remainder of the term.
Ana Clara Andreoli, Senate policy chair and junior marketing major, said the midterm process is more laid-back than most students would believe.
Andreoli ran in the 2025 midterm election and later in the general election, and is currently serving her second semester in the Senate.
“I ran in the general election this past semester, and it was way bigger, way more stressful because all the positions are getting renewed,” Andreoli said. “But midterm elections were really chill, a really nice process. Everyone was really respectful. I didn’t experience any bad things.”
Andreoli said Student Government wants the midterm process to be as accessible as possible to students, including freshmen and new students.
“It is really advertised,” Andreoli said. “It’s open for all students, so students that just joined USF, like freshmen, can run if they want to. It’s really open.”
Andreoli said she is looking forward to the midterm elections and is confident students will show up and fill the available seats.
“It’s always a chance [for new people to have the opportunity to run],” Andreoli said. “It’s a good opportunity for them to get involved in something important on campus.”
Related: USF SG releases certified general election results
Applications to run in the election are open until Sept. 19 at 12:00 a.m., according to SG’s BullsConnect.
Andreoli wants to encourage new students to get involved, either by attending Senate meetings, which are open to students, or by running in the midterms.
“If you have interest in Student Government, if you want to get involved with USF, run,” Andreoli said. “It’s a great opportunity; you will meet great people [and] you will make a difference at USF.”
Nithya Reddy Pothula, Tampa campus council chair and junior computer science major, said she wants students to be more involved in Student Government and to know SG is there to support students.
“I’ve seen many of the students; they’re not really aware of Student Government, and many of the students don’t really vote,” Pothula said. “I would encourage everyone to just come and vote because we are here to represent and advocate for you.”
Pothula said the Student Government is actively working to close the communication gap between the student body and SG.
“We have actively tried to fill that gap,” she said. “We have been active on social media, and we have been planning ways on how we can interact more with the student body and make them aware of the resources and Student Government.”
For Pothula, the most important part of the midterms is ensuring the Student Senate gets representation from all students and that all voices are heard.
“We are missing a few voices, but I think that we will have a fuller and complete Senate after the midterms,” Pothula said.