Candidate Profile

Mason Mendoza

(He/Him)

I’ve been interested in politics since I was in the 6th grade, never fully appreciating the complexity until the 2020 elections where I worked as an election judge at the age of 16. I was enamored by the ability to work well with both Republicans and Democrats to ensure the voices of our neighbors were heard. That kind of atmosphere where we could work together to accomplish what we both wanted was special, and to see soon after a distrust in that process was disheartening. The few people who care for our democracy are lambasted by the very people elected into office by their efforts. We can all tell something is wrong with our American government and it’s because of these people who don’t care for the common citizen, rather profiting off of corporate lobbyists. Our democracy doesn’t have to be this way and I’m here at UIUC to learn how to improve our current system. I’ll admit I won’t get it right 100% of the time but I want to listen to the student body’s concerns and come up with solutions together to solve these issues. I’m dedicated to listening to everyone’s concerns and taking them each with equal urgency. My personal goal as a representative of the student body would be to fight against environmental issues at UIUC like Divestment in Fossil Fuels, expanding Illinois Commitment, and pressuring the UIUC Senate and administration to lower costs for students. The university itself has around $100 million invested in fossil fuels and the fact that our environment is being ruined by this refining, production, and consumption I don’t think our university should help fund this anymore. I plan to use ISC’s influence to demand the UIUC senate make a decision on this. Illinois Commitment is key to helping thousands of your fellow students attend college as inflation keeps rising and wages haven’t kept up since the 70s. It's just insane to demand students keep paying more and more while giving less and less. I plan on working with the UIUC faculty to keep funding and expanding this program so more Illinois residents can continue to use our greatest public institution. For my final goal of decreasing tuition, I hope that I can work with the Illinois System and or the Illinois legislature to find solutions and continue our commitment to ensuring everyone can have a top-of-the-notch education so long as they apply themselves.