Less than a month before the Florida State University Student Government Association (SGA) spring elections, a fourth party platform has entered the race. The Pioneer party is the newest party on the ballot for the March 2 elections next Monday.
Pioneer FSU, which is running a slate of ten candidates this election cycle, plans on focusing on the principles of safety, enrichment, and prosperity as its key platform pillars.
“Pioneer is the policy party,” first-year criminology student and founder of Pioneer FSU Riley Perantoni said to the FSView. “Amongst everyone in this race, we were the first to release what we’re campaigning on, as we think that SGA is broken by petty disagreements and friend groups rather than united by a clear policy focus.”
According to the party’s Instagram, this includes lighting up darker areas of campus, supporting campus-improvement organizations, and adjusting meal swipe equivalency to account for inflation. They plan to focus on areas of improvement that they believe students want to see, particularly in the area of affordability.
The Pioneer party comes onto the student government scene during a year marked by delayed SGA inaugurations due to election violations appeals. During this election season, there have also been alleged resume falsifications for candidates in the Legacy Party.
“I founded this party because I deeply believe the way the system works leaves students behind,” Perantoni said to the FSView. “I also saw that SGA is treated as a resume builder, rather than an organization with a concrete plan and focus on garnering wins for the student body.”
Pioneer seeks to respond to gaps in current system
Pioneer’s values seek to reform the current SGA system, according to founder Perantoni.
“This party will bring a wakeup call, that the old status quo is no longer what students desire, and that they want representatives who are actively engaged with them to earn their vote, not those who believe they’re entitled to it,” Perantoni said. “We hope to bring quick, substantive change with clear policy focus and energetic candidates who want nothing more than to support our student body.”
This is a sentiment held by many other members of the party, including first-year political science major Surya Rajesh, who is slated to run for the upcoming election.
“I have chosen to run for this party because I find value in building something from the ground up, along with people who are open-minded and work-oriented,” Rajesh said to the FSView.
According to first-year political science major Colton Davis, Pioneer FSU is looking to change the current system and create new opportunities for all students at FSU. Davis is also slated to run for SGA with Pioneer in this upcoming election.
“Pioneer will create a fairer and more affordable rhetoric to the student body and help solve problems that have remained unchanged since our current seniors were freshmen,” Davis said to the FSView. “I think Pioneer will bring a new voice into student government, and more importantly, take action on issues that have been facing students for years.”
To Perantoni, active representation and clear results are the crux of what Pioneer FSU aims to give to students while part of SGA.
“We’re solely focused on achieving results, not boosting our own status, and we’re constantly working to hear students’ concerns and deliver for their needs,” Perantoni said.
Pioneer FSU becomes the second new party for these elections, with Legacy FSU also starting a platform in the spring. ForwardFSU and the independent platform Run Independent at FSU will be returning to the ticket as well.
The spring 2026 SGA elections will begin on Monday, March 2, and continue through Tuesday, March 3, from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Azzurra Degliuomini is a Senior Staff Writer for the FSView & Florida Flambeau, the student-run, independent online news service for the FSU community. Email our staff at contact@fsview.com.
This article originally appeared on FSU News: FSU sees second new party for spring elections
Reporting by Azzurra Degliuomini, Senior Staff Writer, FSView / FSU News
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