First, an introduction.
My name is Lester Tellez. I’m a lifelong Floridian, a diehard conservative, and an unapologetic America-first patriot.
After studying the inner workings of the Electoral College and seeing the controversy surrounding the 2020 election, I decided to get involved in the world of politics with one simple goal: to provide news and analysis that wasn’t beholden to any mainstream media source! This led to the creation of my channel, “On Point Politics,” which now boasts an audience of 60,000 subscribers.
During the 2024 election, I collaborated with Tom “the Biz Doc” Ellsworth and Amy Dangerfield on Valuetainment’s Decision 2024, becoming one of the “Resistance Pollsters” who shed light on the real forces shaping public opinion.
On election night, I joined Patrick Bet-David and the Valuetainment family for their historic livestream, working with the decision desk team to call multiple states well ahead of the major news networks.
Politics aside, I’m also a tech enthusiast with a background in computer science and video game development, with my first project, “Grizzly’s VR,” racking up millions of views on YouTube in 2021.
After high school, my passion for game design led me to the University of Central Florida, where I’m currently majoring in Computer Science.
And it’s here at UCF where this story unfolds.
Earlier this year, I decided to launch a campaign for Student Government President in an effort to serve my college community and build some political capital for myself down the line. My primary goal was to convey to my fellow students that “Greek Life,” a small portion of the student body electorate made up of fraternity and sorority members, did not have the unquestionable right to rule over the 70,000+ students at the university. Even though this group typically makes up the majority of the student government, there are other options out there.
I wanted to be one of those options.
From the beginning, I was determined to run my campaign against the typical system, expanding on the lofty ideas and empty promises most candidates make and instead creating a platform that maximized transparency and economic success for students.
My platform included:
- Creating a program for students to use “Dining Dollars” in nearby off-campus restaurants, helping local businesses and expanding the UCF Community.
- Beginning development on a new student housing complex, with students majoring in construction-related fields leading the project. This would help students gain real-world experience and significantly boost resume performance for post-college job applications.
- Developing a live expense tracking system for student government to record spending, maximizing transparency for the students who fund the organization with their $11 Activity & Service Fees. This project would also provide Computer Science students with valuable real-world experience and a standout addition to their resumes.
- Appointing a DOGE-style coordinator to review student government transactions from the last five years, in order to determine where things could be done cheaper without a loss in quality.
- Partnering with additional companies to expand internship and jobs opportunities for university students.
- Adding new class-free holidays to the university calendar.
I also made it very clear in my announcement video that I was a conservative candidate, and my running mate, Andrew Ter-Doest, and I both wore MAGA hats frequently. That political transparency earned attention, support, and, unsurprisingly, backlash from others in the student body.
Let it be said: I have no problem with people disagreeing with my political beliefs.
What I do have a problem with is how the UCF Student Government, particularly the Election Commission, decided to handle this election.
And to make matters worse, the opposition didn’t just come from left-leaning students. In fact, the worst of it came from where I least expected: the leadership of UCF’s College Republicans club.
All across the country, conservative students at major colleges and universities have been harassed, threatened, and sometimes even physically attacked because of their political views. This has been an ongoing problem for years, but through it all, these students have persevered based on the strength of their convictions and the support of their community.
But as I saw during the student government election at UCF, that community can fall victim to the same corruption that runs rampant on the opposite side of the aisle.
So, in an effort to shed light on similar situations playing out around the United States, I’m here to share what I’ve experienced and observed in the last year. Hopefully, this will encourage other people to stand up to corruption and political pressure on campus.
But before I can unpack what happened during the campus election, I need to provide some insight into the Republican Party Chapter at UCF.
In a meeting with the Florida Federation of College Republicans (FFCR) earlier this year, I raised concerns about how our UCF chapter was being run. Our constitution gave us the right to choose our election date: January 27. Sixteen members voted for it unanimously, eight others abstained. Ian, the State Chair from FFCR, dismissed our rules, citing an unwritten “precedent” that elections always happen in April. He argued that federation bylaws overrule chapter bylaws, though official documentation of those bylaws was never provided.
More troubling was the manipulation of club dues.
Mary, our chapter president at the time, slashed dues from $40 to $1 over winter break—and did so without a vote from club member, even though a vote on this matter was required by the club constitution.
Article IX, Section I: Membership Dues
Membership dues shall be set by the Executive Board of that year, with a majority approval of active members. Membership dues will be collected by the Treasurer during the fall and spring semesters only. All active student members, including officers, are required to pay membership dues. Full or partial refunds can only be granted upon a 2/3 affirmative vote of the officers.
This unusual move came right as Mary’s friend James, the Vice-Chair of FFCR, was suspected to be campaigning to become the club’s vice president (this based on a text message an anonymous source had received from Mary herself). His opponent in this election was Andrew, who was also my running mate in the Student Government election. This division within the club would later set the stage for the larger drama of the campus election.
When we confronted Mary and James about these unwarranted due changes, they claimed that I was “misunderstanding” the situation, denying any claims that their actions were harming the club and writing off screenshots of the aforementioned text messages as “unofficial documentation.”
When club members—myself included—raised concerns about this decision, Ian denied FFCR’s involvement and dismissed the notion that anything improper had happened, despite Mary claiming she received directives from the FFCR to make such changes to the dues. When I clarified that we were concerned about a violation of proper procedure, he accused me of orchestrating a takeover for selfish gain.
He argued that the chapter president’s unilateral decision to raise member dues without any input or approval was somehow less of a violation than my constitutionally sanctioned efforts to initiate an impeachment of the sitting president. He also claimed that our selection of an election date (a right explicitly granted in the chapter’s governing document) was more offensive than bypassing protocol to change financial obligations.
Both actions we took were firmly rooted in the constitution then in effect—unlike the dues increase, which was not.
Article V, Section 3: Election Process
The date for the election of officers shall be based on the decision of the majority of active members at the first meeting of the spring semester. The Chairman shall preside over all elections, serving as the “Supervisor of Elections”, and shall remain impartial while presiding over the election. The order of elections shall be: Chairman, Vice Chairman, Treasurer, Secretary, and Executive Director. The organization may not proceed to the election of the next officer until the current one has been resolved. The week prior to elections, the election procedures and rules shall be proposed and voted in accordance to Robert’s Rules.
During a Zoom meeting, the Florida Federation of College Republicans, at the direction of Ian, abruptly suspended our UCF chapter, effectively blocking us from holding our scheduled election.
At this point, Andrew warned that such a move could destroy the chapter altogether. Ian, however, downplayed the concern, saying they could simply “rebuild it later.” He justified the suspension by emphasizing that the FFCR ultimately holds authority over all chapters in the state and claimed he was treating UCF no differently than any other.
But if this is what equal treatment looks like, other chapters across Florida should be alarmed.
Ian pointed to the Florida State University chapter, which he admitted had been shut down for three years, raising serious doubts about the Federation’s competence and commitment to student engagement. Why would any functioning organization allow a chapter at a major university to remain dormant for that long without a revival?
This kind of top-down disregard for grassroots energy, both at the college level and within broader Republican circles, is exactly what discourages young conservatives from political involvement. It’s also part of the reason the GOP continues to squander winnable races at the national level.
After the suspension, the current leadership tried to push through amendments to consolidate power. None passed, thanks to majority opposition I helped organize. But they didn’t stop. They found new ways to sideline dissent.
Then came the Student Government election. As soon as I announced my candidacy, the threats started:
- “I got a baseball bat with your name on it.”
- “We’re coming for you.”
- “Perfect time for a campus shooting.”
These weren’t empty insults. They were violent threats, some from out-of-state, some anonymous. I reported them to UCF Police. Only two identities were traced. Neither faced arrest.
Then, on February 14, the UCF Elections Commission hit our campaign with a violation charge: early campaigning. They pointed to old Instagram posts and a LinkedIn endorsement from months before the campaign window. We then removed the posts in good faith after speaking with the elections supervisor. Despite this, the commission suspended our digital campaigning from February 15 to March 10, and our in-person efforts for nine days. One commissioner even challenged my support for Trump in a nonpartisan election—a clear overstep.
I appealed the original decision on the grounds that I had the right to know the identity of the individual who filed the affidavit against me. The appeal was granted, and a rehearing was scheduled for February 19th. The complainant, who was expected to reveal their identity during this hearing, failed to appear. As a result, the case was dropped.
Yet shortly after, Luke Brown, the UCF Supervisor of Elections, re-filed the exact same charges, claiming it was simply part of his “job,” even though he had full discretion to let the matter go. Despite serious concerns over double jeopardy, I was sanctioned again on the same charges, with penalties imposed from February 28th through March 10th.
Things escalated further when three new affidavits were submitted by Student Government Senators. In a final hearing on March 11th, conveniently timed while votes were still being counted, they accused me of “bribery.”
The claim was that I had told a well-known campus personality I’d make a public statement in support of an event he organized if I won the election. There was no request for his vote, no offer of money, only a promise of public acknowledgment. He himself even provided a statement clarifying that no bribery had taken place. Still, I was found guilty and disqualified on that basis.
In a striking betrayal of conservative principles, the president of the UCF GOP endorsed a liberal ticket in the Student Government election—one that explicitly included DEI policies in its platform. This act represented a clear failure to uphold both conservative values and the stated mission of the UCF GOP.
One day after my disqualification, I was also suspended from the FFCR chapter, despite having had no contact with FFCR leadership since the initial Zoom meeting over a month prior.
Furthermore, they also implemented the new Constitution that WE had voted against, reinstating the UCF chapter immediately after Andrew and I were both suspended from the FFCR.
Very interesting timing.
Ironically, every member of the UCF GOP leadership who stood by and agreed with that decision went on to lose their own re-election campaigns in April.
As things stand right now, the new president of the chapter has NOT received the social media logins from Mary herself in the last month…and it seems that further plans are being implemented to sabotage the new leadership.
Soon after, we received an anonymous message from someone who claimed to be connected to the FFCR, which said the following:
“Hey REDACTED, I have another update. My contact in FFCR said the board is finalizing a statement about ‘the future of the club.’ From what I understand, they plan to publicly call out Lester Tellez and Christobal Pinochet, and are trying to link their actions to [the new leadership] even though you three were all undeniably elected fairly. My contact wouldn’t elaborate but I suspect they’ll either: 1) do a mass banning of members they view as connected to Lester/Christobal or 2) suspend the entire club. I also believe this ties into Mary’s lack of response on the social media logins. I just want to be clear, I DO NOT support any of this. This behavior distracts from the mission of conservative activism on a relatively liberal campus and unfairly targets people. Just wanted to keep you aware, and one step ahead of the games they are trying to pull. I’m staying anonymous for now, but I’ll tell you who I am when the time is right (you’ll probably be surprised by who I am).”
Even after a fair and free election, the results of which they have publicly accepted on multiple occasions, the former leaders of the organization seem dead set on undermining their replacements—almost entirely driven by a vendetta against me.
As of this writing, no official action has been taken…but those of us named in their statements are expecting them to make a move any day now.
These events weren’t isolated. They were part of a broader pattern of political suppression masked as procedural enforcement. From being silenced by my own party to facing institutional bias on campus, I’ve seen firsthand how corruption takes root.
Could I have done better? Absolutely. I could’ve improved my presentation, my networking, and my grasp of the Student Government system. But none of that excuses the corruption and elitism I witnessed firsthand.
This story matters because it exposes a system where DEI-driven agendas are still being pushed—even in defiance of federal orders—and where conservative students are routinely undermined, ignored, or outright attacked.
Despite the odds, I believe my campaign should serve as inspiration. To every student who feels politically isolated on campus: speak up. Run. Be bold. You can make a difference.
This election at UCF changed everything. We shattered the illusion that only one type of student can run for leadership. In a deep blue county, I ran openly as a conservative. I didn’t hide, and now I won’t let that effort be for nothing.
Thank you to everyone who supported me, and to Valuetainment for giving me the platform to tell this story.
Sincerely,
Lester Tellez
For full documentation of all public records mentioned above, check out my X page @onpointpolitics!
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