 "Photo: Dave Hochanadel / IC")
Krystal Weaver and Rachael Wise were announced the winners for the Student Government presidential election at the Student Recreation Center on Thursday night. About 100 students showed up in support of the four presidential tickets, many sporting their tickets’ shirts and creating a sea of green, orange, yellow and white.
Weaver and Wise won the election with 57.1 percent of the vote after the instant run-off, with SG ticket Mark Carter and Mark D’Apolito coming in second with 42.9 percent of the votes.
“We are very happy and very excited,” Weaver said.
“Thrilled would probably be a good word ... shaking,” Wise added.
While it was a moment of victory for the Weaver and Wise ticket, other candidates were less than impressed with the results.
“I think 57 percent is not a lot, and I think it’s really close,” said Kristina Karbula, current SG vice president who also ran as a presidential candidate in the election. “I mean, I could have seen any of us winning really going into it; so, no regrets.”
The crowd almost immediately dispersed after the announcement was made. While Weaver and Wise’s supporters were congratulating them, the runners up, Carter and D’Apolito, expressed more disappointment in the results compared to the other candidates.
They declined to comment.
In order to cast a vote through the system used this year, voters had to choose three tickets, even if they only had one or two tickets in mind, which some argued may have had an adverse effect on the results.
The ticket with the lowest amount of votes was eliminated, and the votes were then reallocated based on second preferences among the three tickets. The process continued until a majority of votes were reached, said Adam Kopchian, chairman of this years’ SG Election Board.
“I think it was, as far back in history as I know, it has been the closest and most widely advertised race that we’ve had ... with four very qualified tickets,” Weaver said. “So, it was an honor to be in the race and more of an honor to win.”
Seifert agreed this year’s election was a “very contested race,” which is beneficial for UT.
“I think that it’s good for the university that we have some viable options, and truly I have faith in the student body, and if the student body says that Rachael and Krystal were the best candidates, then I would have to agree with them,” Seifert said.
Weaver said campaigning for an SG office is a difficult time for all candidates.
“Being in the paper and being in the public eye, it’s a tough thing to do, so, I really want to commend the other candidates for going out there and putting themselves out there, and we’re hoping they’ll be willing to work with us and help us get some of their platforms done, too,” Weaver said.
With the stated ultimate goal of making UT a “better place,” Weaver said she is hoping to develop teamwork with the other tickets and the rest of SG.
“We’re absolutely open to working with the other tickets; we don’t have any hard feelings for anyone,” she said. “Elections always incite a lot of emotions, but hopefully we can put all of this aside and work together and realize that we really have the same common goal.”
While Weaver and Wise said they were looking forward to collaborating with the other tickets, the sentiment may not be shared.
“In terms of character, I think a lot of things came out during election, and some of the things that have come out during this election has kind of spoke to a lot of people’s character ... kind of chips into your ability to work with someone,” said Presidential candidate Brad Davy.
Although his ticket lost the election, Davy said his campaign was positive and respectful, and the only change he would have made would have been to start campaigning earlier. “I think that we let the campaign kind of take its course, whereas other people were running against other campaigns, [and] I think we ran our own,” Davy said.
Karbula said losing the election will not deter her and her running mate Sam Harden to continue contributing to the student body.
“Sam and I are the kind of people that would have done this job with or without the tuition, without the stipends, without any of the benefits,” Karbula said. “We definitely would have done it and will continue for the student body and will be happy to do so.”
According to UT’s student handbook, the SG president and vice president will receive stipends that include tuition, book charges and a monthly stipend equal to one-ninth of the average cost of on-campus room and board.*
Both the SG president and vice president received roughly $15,700 apiece this year, with about half of that for tuition and the other half a stipend for room and board, according to Interim Dean of Students Michele Martinez.
Weaver, currently the Chief Executive Officer for Campus Activities and Programming, is already receiving the same stipend amount. She also holds the position as a student trustee, a non-paid position.
Although being in office does not necessarily mean she would have to discontinue her role as a trustee, she said during an interview with the IC earlier this month that she would step down if that was the consensus of the student body.
Seifert said all of the SG tickets this year had something unique to offer to the organization and there is potential for collaborative work among the former campaign rivals.
“It will be interesting to see what this administration has as priorities and how well they work with other people and how much other people are willing to work with them,” Karbula said.
* Correction: In the above article, we inaccurately reported that Krystal Weaver received the same stipend amount as the Student Government president. At the time of the article's publication, Weaver, as the chief executive officer for Campus Activities and Programming, did not receive the same stipend amount as CEO as the SG president. For fiscal year 2009, the same stipend amount is distributed among board members of CAP, and as the CEO, Weaver received a stipend of $3,850.
The IC regrets this error.
11 comments
There was a winning ticket. End of story. All of the candidates knew what they were facing when they went into this. If the Mark's are truly dedicated to the student body, they will work hard this year and run again in 2010. Until then, get over it.
All the candidates knew that this was a run-off system going into the election. If someone does not first recieve over 50 percent of the vote, people's second choice counts as a vote until someone recieves over 50 percent. Thus, when looking at the FINAL vote count, Krystal recieved 57.1% of the vote. That is a landslide, period.As long as you are name calling, you are an idiot to claim that Greeks are, "yes-men."
Also, Krystal and Rachel won in a landslide. 57.1% to 42.9% is not a close race. Barack Obama only won by 52.92% of the vote.