David Castañeda

The ASNMSU presidential and vice presidential debates were held on March 25, 2025.

As voting for the Associated Students of New Mexico State University president and vice president approaches, candidates came together on Tuesday, March 25, as a final way to push their campaign and talk directly with the student body. All candidates answered questions from both the moderator and the audience, who were allowed to submit questions throughout the debate.  

With no one running against him for president, candidate Wyatt Ziehe took the stage on his own. He described his time as more of a conversation with the audience rather than a traditional debate. This year’s vice presidential candidates are Hebah Alhalholy and Ziehe’s running mate, Kolby Graham Taylor, who were able to have a traditional debate.  

Presidential candidate on accountability, outreach 

A running trend among all candidates in the debate this year was accountability.  

Ziehe expressed concerns about the lack of knowledge students have about ASNMSU and the role it plays in the university. He explained that ASNMSU has $3 million in the bank and is responsible for allocating those funds to student programs. 

Recently, there have been multiple reports of ASNMSU lacking in its duties to the students, leaving money designated for alumni sit unused in an account. Ziehe wants to encourage a senate with individuals who not only hold themselves accountable but who hold those around them to a higher standard. 

“An accountable senate is a senate that does its job and doesn’t have to be asked to do its job,” Ziehe said. “Kind of goes out of its way to do its job, reaches out to students, and seeks feedback. That was the hardest struggle as myself, as a leader, because it’s not nice when people say mean things about you. But people are going to say mean things about you, and you want people to say mean things about you. That tells you how you are not doing your job.” 

The how of getting this information to students was a major discussion in the presidential debate. During Ziehe’s debate for the presidency, he exemplified the importance of growing the senate’s Instagram page, along with sending emails of quarterly reports to all students.  

“Moving forward, I intend to reach as many people as possible. You can find me on my website, Instagram,” Ziehe said. “There are many ways to skin a cat, and there are many ways to reach students. So far, I believe I’ve reached over 1500 just through conversation, online presence, and I continue to keep that number climbing every single day. 

He stated that most of ASNMSU’s student body engagement comes largely from Instagram, so he wants to focus on growing that reach. He also discussed possible outreach growth attempts on other platforms, specifically mentioning TikTok, canvas, and banner ads.  

The emails would be sent out to all students periodically throughout the semester, outlining what the senate has been doing and where student body funds are being placed. 

“The way I look at students is [as] shareholders,” Ziehe said. “If this is a company, each student is a shareholder, and they should know they pay 30-something bucks a semester to be a part of this organization. They should know where that money is going to. They should have access to the same information I have access to as a senator.”

He also discussed the policies he plans to implement once he assumes office. Ziehe’s campaign aimed to solve three main problems: driving, cost of living, and insurance, which he plans to advocate for strongly. He plans to use the voice he is given as ASNMSU president to advocate for actions such as better parking zoning and informing students on the financial dangers of uninsured dorms.  

Additional actions proposed at the debate were using lab-grown vegetables from the ACES college to feed the student body and placing vending machines with feminine hygiene products outside of bathrooms, which can be accessed via student ID’s. 

“I don’t want to hit home runs, grand slams, major projects every single time. I feel like that’s how we’ve gotten in a lot of trouble in the past,” Ziehe said. “I want to be remembered as a guy who did his job right and wasn’t controversial, didn’t piss anybody off, or anybody off too much, but really advocated for the students every single day.” 

Vice presidential candidates give details on senate improvements 

The vice presidential debate started with candidates Alhalholy and Taylor giving introductory segments to explain their campaign goals. Afterwards, they were given the opportunity to answer questions from the moderator and audience. They debated an array of topics, including nepotism, accountability, and strategies they plan to implement if they are elected as vice president. 

Nepotism has been a hot topic within ASNMSU this school year. Last semester, Taylor created a bill to impeach the current president, Alhalholy’s sister, on the grounds of nepotism, amongst other offenses.  

When asked how he would handle conflict in the future, Taylor stated that “checking drama at the door” would be encouraged by reminding senators why they are there.  

“I’m a big word user,” Taylor said. “I like just using my voice to tell people these things, so, I guess a broad voice of encouragement of saying like, ‘Hey, at the end of the day, we reiterate this time after time, but we are here for the students. Don’t bring your personal matters into my senate, because it is not about you.’” 

After answering the prepared questions, a student submitted their concern of potential biases Alhalholy would be susceptible to by being the president’s sister. They urged her to admit the current president’s wrongdoings to quell this concern. After a shift in atmosphere, Alhalholy stated she separates her professional life from her personal relationships. She explained that when the impeachment was introduced, she opted out of voting on the bill to avoid crossing the boundary of her personal and professional life. 

“Actually, I was pretty happy that question came up. I knew that was a concern that some people had,” Alhalholy said. “It’s a concern that anybody would have if a senator has her sister [as] the president, that’s the highest position you can obtain at ASNMSU… We come together as a unified student government at the end of the day, but I do one thing, and she does another thing. Anything we do, it never gets conflicted”.  

The environment demanded accountability, with students asking the candidates to provide examples of when they had to hold themselves accountable. 

Taylor spoke about the hardships he faced while creating his fraternity, Farmhouse, and how he is willing to make mistakes.  

“I fell on my face founding my fraternity a lot,” Taylor said. “It took me two years to just get something started, and you got to be willing to constantly work hard to get back up and achieve what you’re believing in. I believe it goes right back into accountability with myself. I’m very certain I am not perfect, and I am willing to make mistakes.” 

Alhalholy recounted times when she messed up as a senator, in writing legislation and other incidents which resulted in her being reprimanded. 

“Being a senator for almost a year now, I’ve struggled a lot. I’ve made a lot of mistakes along the way, and I think holding yourself accountable is the first step,” Alhalholy said. “I think that also comes from the vice president, when a senator makes a mistake it’s always good for the vice president to let them know.” 

Both Alhalholy and Taylor discussed the issue of many senate members failing to use the money given to them to give back to the student body; specifically, not reaching out to their constituents and expecting them to come to senators.  

Alhalholy, expressed concerns about the amount of money ASNMSU still has, along with her plans to avoid this in the future. 

“We have over $200,000 in that expense account,” Alhalholy said. “I do believe that we have that much money in this expense account because nobody is writing reimbursement bills. Nobody’s reaching out to their constituents to give that money away. That money is initially for them; nobody else is going to use it, except for the students.”  

Alhalholy promised that if she were to be elected vice president, she would implement a law-book change which would lay out the duties of the senate, as well as require all senators to write at least one or two reimbursement bills a semester to ensure funds are distributed. 

Taylor parroted the same sentiments as his running mate. He said if he becomes vice president, he will promise to closely  monitor senators and hold them accountable for fulfilling their duties. 

The candidates also proposed strategies to increase efficacy and accountability within the senate. 

Alhalholy discussed creating a workshop for incoming senators. It would be overseen by the vice president, and they would be trained on the innerworkings of the senate and their responsibilities as senators.  

“I’ve personally seen with my eyes, senators who I work with now have been in the association and a senator for more than a year, more than two years, and they don’t know the process of reimbursement bills,” Alhalholy said. “They come to ask me questions, and I’ve only been here for a year, and you’ve been here for longer. How do you not know the process? And I think that stems from leadership.”  

She also expressed the desire to create more oversight for the executive branch. Alhalholy stated that while she does trust the president, having more administrative involvement could help ASNMSU avoid problems they have been having the past few years.  

Taylor discussed how he wants to organize town halls around campus for students to directly talk with senators. They would be able to get to know the people representing them, ask questions, and provide feedback.  

He said these townhalls would be held at college buildings, and it would be up to the council to contact organizations, including Greek life organizations, student organizations, and clubs they affiliate with to get the word out. Taylor assures that certain groups would not be neglected for a lack of senate association because the senate is already diverse. 

“If you think of [it] in a prospect, some clubs and some organizations are going to have more [representation] than others, and that’s just part of the course,” Taylor said. “I mean, obviously ACES guy here, but petty example, if you have the NAMA club, which is the National [Agriculture] Marketing Association, they’re going to have a lot of people joining that club… They’re probably going to attract more people.” 

Voting for ANMSU’s presidential and vice presidential candidates opened Monday, March 31, and close Friday, April 4 at 5:00 p.m. The unofficial results will be available on April 4 on Crimson Connection.