A heated campaign for the University of Central Florida’s Student Government (SG) presidency has taken a dark turn, with the leading Republican candidate reportedly receiving death threats amid a contentious election season.
As of March 10, 2025, the race—set to conclude with a new election in Spring 2025—has exposed deep divisions among UCF’s student body, thrusting the popular conservative contender into a storm of hostility.
Lester Tellez launched his campaign in early January with a social media post that quickly gained traction. He endorsed Vice Presidential candidate Andrew Ter-Doest.
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On February 3, an anonymous UCF student filed an affidavit with UCF Student Government Coordinator Brodie Taylor, citing potential violations of election statutes, including “Unauthorized Early Active Campaigning via Digital Platforms.”
Title VI, Section A, of the UCF Election Statues prohibit premature campaigning by any candidate, including the “display or distribution of tangible items or electronic media.”
According to the statute, campaigning is allowed to begin on the “Monday of petitions” (marking the start of the election period) and ends two weeks after the last day of voting.
This election runs from Monday, March 10, through Wednesday, March 13.
Tellez was also accused of “Improper Petition Process.”
The UCF election commission contacted Tellez, advising him that the premature launch of his campaign violated the rules and instructing him to remove the posts. Tellez complied.
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He was further advised that the affidavit had been filed against him. A hearing was scheduled for Feb. 14.
Tellez argued that the anonymous affidavit was in violation of due process rules.
“During the hearing, this was mentioned, and they seemed to disregard it in their decision to accept the affidavit,” Tellez said, “and they still went forth with the punishment, which was no physical campaigning from the 15th of February to the 23rd of February, and then no online campaigning until Election Day, which could have been March 10 through the 12th.”
Tellez appealed the decision. His appeal was accepted, and a new hearing was scheduled for Feb. 19. In the meantime, the anonymous filer was informed that they had two options. Reveal their identity for the affidavit to be valid or withdraw the affidavit.
The anonymous filer chose the latter. The sanctions against Tellez’s campaign were dropped and soon after, Tellez began receiving death threats on social media.
“Perfect Time for a Campus Shooting.”
The flurry of threats, both for physical harm and even death, took Tellez by surprise. While he was admittedly shaken by the experience, he remained resolved to continue his campaign.
“I received a comment saying, ‘Perfect time for a campus shooting,” an individual with the screen name of “the_enemy_within_1974” said ominously.
A second threat, issued by “angustheguy,” said, “Genuinely, get run over.”
“I called 911, and the UCF PD was redirected to me,” Tellez said. “But as the days went on, I had to report more death threats from online.”
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An individual using the screen name of “squarejamin” said, “Ucf Luigi Mangioni incoming.”
“Hope you know how to fight.. with your hands..,” warned “n0rmal15,” adding, “cuz we’re coming for you.”
An additional post by “n0rmal15” said, “Hope you got round the clock security detail.. cuz I got a car full of homies riding around looking for you.”
“I’m not enrolled, but I’ll send some death threats to your campaign,” reads the post by “lividaftermidnight.”
“i.87738299.amwatchingyou” said, “we will find you on campus lester and you will regret kt (sic).”
“You’re a freak and we are coming for you,” they added.
In response to a post Tellez made announcing an event to be held on March 4 for the candidates, another person said, “I got a baseball bat in my passenger seat with your name and graved on it, waiting to meet with your cranium.”
“All of these have been reported to the UCF, PD,” Tellez told the Tampa Free Press, adding that authorities believe they have located the individual who made the campus shooting comment.
“I believe they reported to me that he is in Texas,” said Tellez, “and they’ve possibly identified the commenter about the baseball bat being located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.”
Asked how he felt when he saw the death threats on social media, Tellez expressed concern. However, he remains resolute.
“When I saw them I was appalled. I reported the to the police because I thought it was important to make sure that myself and everyone else on campus remained safe,” said Tellez.
Despite the challenges to his campaign and the subsequent death threats, Tellez said he is moving forward.
“The campaign kind of settled, and we’ve been able to get our foot on the pedal a bit,” Tellez said further, “and we’ve been campaigning a lot, and we’re going to continue to do so.”
However, just when Tellez thought everything had “settled,” a second affidavit was filed against his campaign. This time, by UCF Supervisor of Elections Luke Brown.
Brown accused the campaign of Tellez/Ter-Dost of failing to submit their “Week 1 Expense Sheet,” in violation of UCF Election Statues, Title VI, Chapter 606.2, Section F.
“Failing to turn in an individual campaign expense statement for campaign materials to the Supervisor of Elections by 11:59 p.m. on each Sunday of the campaign for Presidential Candidates,” is a violation, Brown asserted.
However, while expenditures for the first week of their campaign totaling $1,495 were not reported on their “Week 1 Expense Sheet,” the amount was reported on their Week Two Submission.
“On February 20th, Tellez/Ter Doest were informed they submitted an incorrect document,” Brown wrote in his affidavit.
A second affidavit, also filed by Brown, again accused Tellez/Ter Doest of premature campaigning, citing an Instagram page @tellezterdoest2025, “claiming to be the official campaign page for the Tellez Ter Doest ticket.”
“These posts constitute a violation as they were posted directly by the candidates themselves on their social media accounts,” Stated Brown.
While conceding that Tellez and Ter Doest “were likely unaware” that these posts were in violation of UCF election statutes, “ignorance of these tiers and their corresponding consequences shall not be an acceptable defense in response to any offense in any election.”
“Since these posts were made by the ticket themselves, almost a month prior to being officially declared as a candidate it is clear and explicit violation of the election statutes,” Brown concluded.
For these violations, Tellez said sanctions were placed on his campaign.
He is forbidden to campaign either physically or online from 12: a.m. on March 1, to March 11:59 on March 9—just one day prior to the start of the election.
“I will be appealing this decision once again,” Tellez said, lamenting the forced silence placed on his campaign.
“With death threats and now this decision, I will not stop fighting for all UCF Knights to become your student body president,” Tellez said.
More Affidavits
In March, three more affidavits were filed against the Tellez/Ter Doest campaign by a student named Ryan Kaufman.
In his first affidavit, dated March 1, Kaufman alleges that he saw a post on the UCF Reddit page by someone with the screen name of “Milk Maniac UCF” in reference to Tellez.
“He glazed me over DMs the other day and told name he would give me an award for the milk maniac thing if he became president,” Kaufman quoted of the unknown commentor.
According to Kaufman, this heresay information indicates that Mr. Tellez was “attempting to bribe a student.”
In his second affidavit, dated March 4, Kaufman alleges that Tellez approached him at the March 4 candidate expo to inquire about what initiatives he might propose at the next signature session.
ideas and that ‘If I was running,” he would want to expand the amount of clubs that get funding,” Kaufman wrote, adding that Tellez was “wearing his candidate merchandise.”
“According to the election statutes,” Kaufman concluded, this activity was in violation for failure to comply with any sanctions within 24 hours of being se by the election commission.”
In his third affidavit, dated March 5, Kaufman reported that he had seen that the “TellezTerDoest2025 account was still active on Instagram, “even after the sanction placed on the by the election commission.”
The Conflict
The hostilities toward Tellez appear to have started after Tellez challenged the leadership abilities of current UCF College Republicans Club President Mary Connolly in December 2024.
According to documents compiled by the Florida Federation of College Republicans (FFCR) regarding the case, Tellez sent Connolly the first notice of his intent to impeach her and Vice President Ethan Del Campo by way of a PDF document.
He described what he perceived as a “lack of engagement and diminishing presence within the club” under her administration.
Tellez then urged both Connolly and Del Campo to step down from their positions, suggesting that their resignations would allow the club to schedule new elections to establish a leadership that was more aligned with the desires of its membership.
However, FFCR stated that Tellez’s complaint was ambiguous, and “failed to specify which duties they have allegedly neglected, offering no clear basis for his decision while still expecting immediate compliance.”
“He employs coercive tactics, including a 24-hour deadline for a response, pressuring them to step down immediately.”
In addition, Tellez predicted that if Del Campo decided to run for President, and “somehow won,” that the UCF College Republicans Club would “basically lose all of its membership.”
According to the FFCR, “This message disregards principles of fairness and due process, demanding drastic action without proper communication, justification, or an opportunity for a fair response.”
Connolly’s Response
In response to the resignation request by Tellez, Connolly wrote a letter addressing his accusations against her leadership. She outlined the progress achieved by the club under her tenure, such as membership growth, successful events, and efforts to achieve connections to the club with influential Republican figures. In his rebuttal, Tellez provided more specifics to justify his request for her resignation, such as delays in establishing a bank account, and lack of follow-through on projects and major initiatives such as the gala event.
Tellez also claimed that his position had “overwhelming support” among club members.
Tellez then escalated the situation by initiating formal impeachment proceedings against Connolly, drafting a resolution accusing her of “dereliction of duty and failure to meet constitutional responsibilities.”
His resolution listed her failure to establish a bank account critical for fundraising, failure to create a plan for the Gala, and general mismanagement, citing the UCF College Republicans Constitution, emphasizing Article VI, Section 1, which provides grounds for leadership removal.
The resolution declared January 13th, 2025 to be the date for the impeachment vote, providing Connolly the required 72 hours’ notice in compliance with constitutional guidelines.
Tellez then shared his resolution with the club’s members and provided Connolly with the opportunity to respond.
However, after consultation with the FFCR, which determined that the charges levied by Tellez did not meet the impeachment threshold, Tellez announced the formal retraction of his impeachment efforts against Connolly.
Regarding Tellez’s accusation that Connolly had not established a club bank account, Connolly said, “I provided a bank account statement and a screenshot of the transactions to demonstrate that the club bank account was, in fact, set up and active.”
“I also provided proof as to why the claim of a ‘lack of follow-through on projects and major initiatives such as the gala event’ and a ‘failure to create a plan for the gala’ is highly misleading.”
“Problematic Tweets”
Connolly insists that the challenges being faced by Tellez are self-imposed.
“He was actually campaigning early before he was officially approved as a candidate,” Connolly told the Tampa Free Press.
She added, “People have dug up some pretty problematic tweets and comments from his in the past.”
Asked for specifics, Connolly shared screenshots of posts she alleged were made by Tellez and Ter Doest on social media.
The post she found to be the most disturbing was one where Tellez suggests an idea for a video game where someone in a purple Barney suit lures children at a restaurant and rapes them.
Multiple posts, alleged to have been made by Ter Doest through an “alt X account,” make use of the “n-word.”
According to Connolly, while the UCF College Republicans Club does support Tellez’s political beliefs, they are not supporting his campaign because of his behavior.
Specifically, Connolly cited his “attempts to circumvent proper election procedures, making false claims about another individual, refusing to comply with FFCR directives, and creating division and hostility within the chapter.”
Asked if there’s a chance that the mounting challenges to the Tellez campaign might also be inspired by the possibility that he has a reasonable chance at winning, Connolly conceded.
“Maybe,” she said.
Asked about the social media posts, Tellez noted that the one regarding the Barney game—dated Sept. 13, 2019—was made when he was “13 or 14 years old,” during a discussion that admittedly got out of hand. Tellez is now 20 years old.
Tellez also insisted that the posts using the “n-word” were not made by Ter Doest but rather by someone using his name.
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