[media-credit name=’JEFF SCHORFHEIDE/Herald photo’ align=’alignnone’ width=’648′][/media-credit]

A University of Wisconsin junior said Tuesday he will be running for District 8 alder in the upcoming spring election.

Jacob Schmidt, 20, filed his paperwork Tuesday afternoon and told The Badger Herald he wants to focus on tenant rights, economic growth, social justice and expanding on outgoing student Ald. Eli Judge’s recently passed Downtown Residential Lighting Initiative.

“I know that there are areas of campus not on State Street and not right in the downtown area that could use improved lighting,” he said of the DRLI.

With respect to tenant rights, Schmidt said he feels the online representation of apartments can be misleading for students and wants to look into further regulation of landlords.

“The students deserve fair representation and … they want someone who’s unbiased and not pushing any sort of partisan agenda,” Schmidt said.

Schmidt, an economics and political science major, said he has worked on a number of political campaigns since high school and interned at the office of his home district’s Rep. Scott Newcomer, R-Delafield, where he learned about the state’s budget process.

The seat for the primarily student district is currently held by Judge, who announced a week ago he will not be running for re-election because he will be graduating in May.

Madison Area Technical College student Michael Johnson, pulled out of the race Monday, less than one week after announcing his candidacy, citing family issues.

At this time, no other people have declared their candidacy.

Chynna Haas, former treasurer for Michael Johnson’s campaign, said there have been conversations about someone stepping into Johnson’s spot and having the endorsement of Student Progressive Dane, but there are no specific names at this time.

While Schmidt appears to be unopposed at the moment, he said he wants the opportunity to run against someone.

“A campaign is more exciting when there’s someone to run against,” Schmidt said. “It’s obviously a positive for the democratic process to have more than one person running.”

Haas added she hopes the seat will be filled by a student at one of the universities or colleges in Madison.

“We really hope there is a candidate that’s going to run with a concern for student needs,” Haas said.

While in office, Judge held alder office hours and kept a blog as a way of connecting with his constituents. Schmidt said he plans on launching a blog in the coming weeks and hopes to follow in Judge’s footsteps by making himself available on campus.

“You can have leanings with a different political party, but when you get into office it’s all about your constituents,” he said.

Schmidt said plans for his campaign are shaping up, and he hopes to have a campaign team with at least two people from each class level, as well as people from various student organizations.

“I’m working very hard right now to surround myself with friends and other people on campus who are of all sorts of varying political backgrounds and ideals, with people who have political experience and who don’t.”

Schmidt said he also wants to focus on social justice, citing police should focus more on both violent and property crime, rather than raiding house parties, as well as improving the snow removal process to make sidewalks safer for students in the winter.

Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, said he is considering running for re-election and will be making his final decision in the next few days.

Also, Brenda Konkel, who currently represents District 2, has a challenger as Adam Walsh, a resident of District 2, said he plans to run against her.