Former progressive Rep. Mondaire Jones has regularly criticized former President Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election, but Jones himself was an undergraduate at Stanford University when he claimed that the election was stolen. I have been accused of doing so.
In 2007, Jones ran for vice president of student government. Jones and his running mate, Hershey Avula, trailed their top rivals by just 38 votes, making it one of the closest races in living memory. stanford daily It was reported at the time.
The student body's bylaws specifically called for a runoff election, but Jones feared he wouldn't be able to replicate the high turnout among graduate students a second time.
“If there were another election, graduate student turnout would be terrible.”Jones told the Stanford Daily. at that time. “Now is the time for repair, not for further polarization.”
Election Commissioner Bernard Fraga said the constitution required a runoff, but the Undergraduate Senate and Graduate Student Council voted 12-1 against holding a runoff, making Avula/Jones the winner. It was decided.
Then three senators told the Stanford Daily They said they were under “pressure” from Mr. Avula and Mr. Jones to cancel the runoff, an action they called “unethical.”
The move also drew criticism from the Stanford Daily's editorial board.
“We have a responsibility to declare a new election period and hold a runoff election.” wrote the newspaper. “The call for a run-off, as recommended by the Fraga Electoral Commissioner, based on unbiased principles, is not about sides. It is about fairness.”
Avra and Jones faced with suspicion Two years later, news outlets reported that $13,000 in government funds had been improperly spent on food and gas, but an investigation into the matter was inconclusive. Stanford Review.
Fraga, in a phone call, claimed the election was stolen and called the issue a “technique.”
Jones, a former upstate congressman, is currently in a tight race against Republican Rep. Mike Lawler in New York's 17th District, which includes Rockland and Putnam counties, Westchester County and parts of Dutchess.
