Campaign Wrap Up

In case you have been living under a rock, Jordan and KaLeigh won and officially became the President and Vice President Elect of NISG. The voting distribution was almost identical to last week’s initial contest, with Jordan & KaLeigh besting Kyle & Brendan by a little more than 200 votes. With the congratulations and thank yous pouring out from all candidates, it’s time for NISG to give our own shout outs.

Trevor and Beth

I tried to have as much fun with “The Cult” as possible, and hopefully you and your fellow residents did too. After this election, though, I walk away with more respect for Campbell Hall than ever. I think that what both of you have done, and are doing, is incredible. You command the attention and undying respect for a massive amount of people that just love UNI. What more could I ask for out of a student? Thank you Trevor, Beth, and the rest of Campbell Hall for renewing my spirits in this university. Don’t be strangers to NISG.  You both have skills and ideas that this university needs.

Kyle and Brendan

You guys rock, plain and simple.  How you managed to be full time students, run at a D1 level, and give up your entire lives at the same time is remarkable. You have a chemistry between each other that was unmatched by the other candidates. The results last night might not have gone you way, but UNI needs them to stick around and follow through on campaign ideas. 

Jordan & KaLeigh

What more can I say? You put together a campaign, platform, and group of supporters that was unmatched by the competition. Congratulations. There is no doubt in my mind that you will be very successful next year. Just remember, winning was the easy part. The next 13 months of your lives will be hectic, challenging, and maybe even frustrating. However, you’re not alone. You have 14,000 students behind you; just let us know how we can help.

Senate Candidates

No matter if you won or lost, make Senate your passion. Senate can pass resolutions that the upper administration of the university will listen to. Don’t just show up to committee meetings and senate meetings and assume your work is done. The majority of your involvement in Senate needs to occur outside of official meetings; talking with students, brainstorming ideas, and spending time in the NISG Office. I’m really excited to see what this new Senate is capable of, don’t let me or the student body down.

Election Commission

Fantastic job. I think you handled the accusations of early campaigning well and results were quick. Good elections have little Commission involvement, so I like to think that this election was wildly successful .

Finally, and most importantly, is to the students that voted. THANK YOU. These are difficult times for UNI. We need students like you to care about the state of UNI. As I mentioned Monday, respect the vote and respect Jordan & KaLeigh. Make sure to answer their call and help them make a united attack at the budget cuts.

Jeff and I have had so much fun covering the 2012 NISG Elections, thanks for making the choice to stay informed. Catch ya on the flip side.

-Chris & Jeff

BREAKING NEWS: JORDAN AND KALEIGH WIN

The Final Results are in and Jordan & KaLeigh  have been declared the new President and Vice President elect of the the Northern Iowa Student Government. The final tally was

Jordan and KaLeigh:772

Kyle and Brendan: 541

Stay tuned to the blog as we analyze everything over the next 48 hours.

BREAKING NEWS: THE RESULTS ARE IN

We'll let you know when Jill tells us them

Kyle and Brendan are Letting the Sidewalk do the Chalking

The great weather has made way for candidates to do some chalking as advertising. Today alone, I've gotten three texts about how much Kyle & Brendan chalking has been on campus. Although I've heard rumors of sandwich boards being used by Jordan & KaLeigh, I think that this chalking campaign might be the most effective method of communication on election day. Reading "Vote for Kyle and Brendan" 30 times each time crossing campus is a powerful message. 

Stay tuned to the live blog tonight at 7 as we find out if it works, and who ultimately takes the NISG office for the 2012-2013 academic year.

The 2012 NISGElections.com Endorsement

At the beginning of this campaign season Jeff and I had two goals: the first was to provide accurate coverage of the 2012 NISG Elections, and the second was to provide our readers our honest opinions of the campaign. Over the past couple of weeks we’ve had a lot of talks with each other over which candidates we liked in the elections, and ultimately who would receive this blog’s endorsement. Finally, we have made our decision. Based on what we’ve seen out of all the candidates in the past three weeks, NISGElections.com is proud to announce our endorsement of : the losers (and their supporters) of the 2012 NISG Elections.

Now before you start angrily tweeting and commenting, let us explain.

Over the past few weeks, the UNI student body has seen three sets of presidential and vice presidential candidates give up their entire lives in hopes of representing the students. In addition, 18 students appeared on the ballot for senate. Each candidate brought new ideas and unique styles to the campaign. UNI would be lucky to have either of the three tickets take office in April. NISG would be lucky to have any of the 18 senate candidates serve on senate, too. Based on this, one thing became abundantly clear to us. The next NISG president and senate are going to be successful. However, with the limited number of seats, there are many qualified and motivated students missing out on NISG spots. We feel that their continued involvement in student leadership is the key to the success of those who won.

Losing hurts, a lot, especially in elections. Finding out that your name was less preferred to another name is the worst. It also stings to find out that the candidate you dedicated hours of time to support lost. However, it’s in the wake of defeat that true character shines. 

I’m not ignorant to defeat, either. Over the years I’ve been rejected for three upper level cabinet positions. While each one seems to have hurt more than the one before it, each one opened the door for a new opportunity. Much like the losing candidates now, I felt upset, deflated and even angry. However, the worst thing I could have done in the aftermath was to give up on being a student leader at UNI. After my most recent rejection a very wise person told me, “When you put yourself out there, Chris, failure is part of the game. You can’t let it define you.”

That’s my advice to those who walk away from the 2012 NISG Elections in defeat. Whether you’re a candidate or die-hard supporter, don’t let this defeat define you. Ask yourself, “Why did I run? Why did I care enough to put so much time into this?” Then use the answer as motivation to keep going. Use your frustration to motivate you to work harder. If you think the student body made the wrong choice, spend all next year proving it. Be the presidential or senatorial candidate that people think, “how in the hell did they lose that election?” The worst thing the losing candidates and supporters can do is give up on NISG and UNI.

To the losing presidential tickets, don’t give up on owning this campus. Make sure the winning ticket implements your ideas. Better yet, join their cabinet and make your ideas happen on your own. To the losing senatorial candidates; join the senate standing committees, attend senate meetings and make sure your senators provide the best representation possible. More importantly, to the losing supporters, respect the vote and support the winners. Chances are, you’ll find out that they aren’t so ideologically different from you. In these times for UNI, the student body needs to come together.

To the winners, congratulations. Take some time and enjoy your victory. Then, call those who lost and ask for their help. Winning was the easy part. You’re going to need as much help as you can get to do a good job.

NISGElections.com is proud to endorse the losing candidates and supporters of the 2012 NISGElections. We believe their continued involvement in NISG will be the key difference between a good term and a great term. The president and senate can’t do it alone.

The Runoff is Looming

With the runoff looming, all has seemed quiet on the election front. Let's first take a look at the Facebook pages.

Kyle & Brendan: 262
Jordan & KaLeigh: 201

Although they still sit on top, Kyle & Brendan haven't gotten any new likes in the past few days. Meanwhile, Jordan & KaLeigh have increased their number by 25+. Is this a sign of where Trevor & Beth supporters are leaning to? Possibly. But keep in mind that Trevor's endorsement will affect his supporter's vote the most.

 I also took some time this weekend to ask the candidates some questions and here is what they responded with.

What have you been doing since the results were announced?

Kyle

“We have been working on making sure that students know about the runoff election and that they need to vote again. Being the underdog going into this election, we know that having a high level of repeat voter turnout is vital. We have also followed up with student groups that we had met with the past couple weeks, as well as set up appointments to meet with student groups that we did not get a chance to meet with before the last election”

How do you plan on getting some of those who voted for Trevor & Beth to vote for your respective ticket?

Jordan

“Our thought process wasn’t, “Okay, we have a 250+ vote lead over Kyle and Brendan, how do we retain that and possibly expand it?” But instead we’ve been thinking about this as an entirely new election, a clean slate if you will. One of the things we’ve done, changing it up a bit, is going to house meetings. Setting up meetings to go to student organizations takes too much time to really be effective in a six-day time frame, so we decided that going to house and hall meetings were the best way to get to new students.

What’s the big thing you want students to know about your ticket going into the final runoff election?

Jordan

“We want to thank everyone that has supported us through his entire process and we hope for their continued support. We would also like students to think about not only the platforms, but which candidates they would feel could best work through the current events.”

Kyle

“We are dedicated to serving the students of UNI and we believe that this campaign proves that dedication. Over the past couple weeks, we have placed this campaign as a priority over our other activities, social lives, and school work. We understand this position comes with a great deal of responsibility and that sacrifice and stress are to be expected. Throughout our time at UNI, we have gained the experience and skills necessary to not only fill the position, but do an excellent job. We are honored to have as much support from the students that we’ve had thus far and ask that they please vote for us again his coming Tuesday and Wednesday. We would love to be the voice of the students and help lead this university, but need your support to make that happen.”

Be sure to stay tuned for the NISGElections blog as we cover the runoff AND make an official endorsement later tonight!

BREAKING NEWS: Trevor Monnier Endorses Kyle and Brendan

While I was still writing out my reaction to last night's results, a HUGE development has been made in the runoff election for student body president. Former student body presidental candidate Trevor Monnier has officially endorsed Kyle & Brendan. I got the chance to talk to Trevor and he had this to say:

"It goes back to the reasons why I ran in the first place. Kyle and Brendan have a solid foundation built on their principals and morals that I think is necessary for our student leaders. In addition, their public speaking skills are excellent, which is necessary to effectively represent the university. They posses the skills that I want from a student body president."


He goes on to compare them to Jordan & KaLeigh

"I feel that Kyle and Brendan are running a more honest campaign. Their platform has honest ideas and only includes things that are feasible. I can't say the same for Jordan and KaLeigh. They [Jordan and KaLeigh] are making a lot of promises to student organizations that I don't think they can follow through on."


A lot of things have come as a surprise to me in NISG, but this one takes the cake. Less than 24 hours after being eliminated (by 19 votes no less) Trevor has come out swinging for Kyle & Brendan. Not only did Trevor endorse Kyle & Brendan, but he also delivered some blows to Jordan & KaLeigh. Up until that comment, this campaign has been completely positive. Part of me likes that, but there is also another part that wishes the candidates would engage with each other (like Trevor just did). Either way, the bigger point is that Trevor has officially endorsed Kyle & Brendan.

This is huge news that has a profound impact on next week's runoff election. Trevor convinced 531 students that he was the best choice as Student Body President. His endorsement means a lot of votes for Kyle & Brendan. These are votes that Kyle & Brendan really needed to make up the nearly 250-vote advantage Jordan & KaLeigh had.

Last night, Jordan and KaLeigh proved me wrong and showed that they were the true frontrunners. They got 41.7% of the vote and had nearly 250 more votes than Kyle & Brendan. I was prepared to write this morning that it was their election to lose, and that they are heavily favored. Now, I'm not as sure. I'll be interested to see how Jordan & KaLeigh respond to this and move their campaign forward from here.

We don't know the impact of this endorsement yet, but it has the potential to catapult Kyle & Brendan into first place come next Wednesday night. One thing is for certain, this run off election will be *very* close. I'm nearly positive that the difference will come down to less than 100 votes. I'm not sure the last time NISG has seen such a close race for student body president. Be sure stay tuned to the blog as we cover everything.

Results!

Below are the results from last night's election.


President and Vice President
Jordan Bancroft Smith & KaLeigh White: 814
Kyle Burns and Brendan Thompson: 550
Trevor Monnier and Beth Monnier: 531
*a runoff has been announced for next week between Jordan&KaLeigh and Kyle&Brendan

College of Business Administration (3 seats)
Tyler Moran: 234***Elected***
Thomas Madsen: 200***Elected***
Patrick Gibbs: 31***Elected***

College of Humanities Arts and Sciences (5 seats)
Blake Findley: 379 ***Elected***
Alicia Jessip: 348 ***Elected***
Jordan Leckband: 343 ***Elected***
Jordan Wilmes: 315 ***Elected***
Tucker Olson: 314 ***Elected***
Christina Johsnon: 294
Stacy Lynne Howes: 239
Connor Hudson Ave: 192
Colombo the Parrot: 25


College of Social and Behavioral Sciences (3 seats)
David Pope: 172 ***Elected***
Margaret Nervig: 113 ***Elected***
Jared Parker: 112 ***Elected***
Andrew Miller: 107
Eric Boisen: 89
Devin Davis: 77



Graduate College (3 seats)
Vincent Chukwuemka: 58 ***Elected***
Chase Felchi: 44 ***Elected***
Keenan Crow: 17 ***Elected***


College of Education (3 seats)
Justin Stout: 3 ***Elected***
Kristin Eckman: 2 ***Elected***
1 COE Seat is OPEN

Interdisciplinary, General Studies, Deciding 
Robert Oman: 3 ***Elected***
Raychel Garringer: 1 ***Elected***