Last night, when election commissioner Corey Cooling delivered the news that Tom and Blake had done the unthinkable and toppled KaLeigh and Alicia in the runoff election, all of those in attendance went silent. There wasn't even a roar of cheering or applause from the winning candidates' campaign team. No one knew what to do or how to react, because, with all due respect to Tom and Blake, no one thought they'd be able to pull it off after finishing second last week to KaLeigh and Alicia in the first election.
But somehow, in a week where almost everyone seemed to think the outcome of the runoff was a foregone conclusion, Tom and Blake proved that you can never underestimate an underdog.
So what happened? Your guess is as good as mine. KaLeigh and Alicia, after coming so close to obtaining a majority of the votes in the first election, saw their vote total drop by 137 in the runoff. Tom and Blake, on the other hand, retained all of their votes from the first election and saw their vote total increase by 118 in the runoff, allowing them to overtake KaLeigh and Alicia by a mere 14 votes. People like to roll their eyes when that old "every vote matters" adage gets tossed around but, in this case, it was true.
You can speculate all you want trying to figure out what KaLeigh and Alicia may have done wrong or what Tom and Blake may have done right, but the end result is all that matters. More than a few people present at the announcement last night had flashbacks to 2011, when a surprising election outcome was discovered to be the result of an egregious miscount in the votes, but the results of this runoff election were automated, removing the possibility of human error. So whether you want to believe it or not, the votes have all been tabulated and Tom and Blake are your next student body president and vice president.
Now, this will be my last post as the writer of this blog, so I thought I'd take this opportunity to personally address each of the candidates and offer up a few final thoughts on their campaigns as we close the book on this election season.
Tom and Blake
Wow. You did it! When defeat appeared imminent, you refused to give up. You kept your voters engaged and even managed to pull in a few extra votes, enough to put you over the top. You proved all the doubters wrong, and I tip my hat to you. Bravo! But once the honeymoon is over, you've got some work to do. I have no doubt that you are both capable of handling the responsibilities that come with being student body president and vice president, but I've been critical of your platform and you both know it (and even responded to it). I think you do have a lot of great ideas, but I also think there are some areas of your platform with room for improvement. I look forward to seeing you work with the current administration to ensure there is a smooth transition and that NISG continues to be a positive, engaging and active representative for students. You've got your work cut out for you, but I can't wait to see what you both have in store for this campus.
KaLeigh and Alicia
There is losing, and then there is losing in a runoff election by 14 votes after being a few percentage points away from certain victory in the first election. I can't imagine what either of you is going through right now, but I would hate for either of you to let this defeat get the better of you. You are both still leaders on this campus and your work in NISG is far from over. As the current student body vice president and the Director of Diversity and Student Life, make the most of the time you have left, and maybe, when you're able to put this election behind you, even consider applying for cabinet positions next year. I would urge you to work together with Tom and Blake to ease the transition between administrations and ensure that the goals and objectives from this year's administration are also priorities for the future. I know that it hurts right now and that throwing in the towel might seem like the easiest option, but you'd be doing a disservice to this student body if you didn't continue to be strong, outstanding student leaders.
David and Katie
I received a bit of flack for criticisms of your campaign that were perceived by some as ignorant or bigoted, but I want you to know that, out of all three of the tickets, I thought you were by far the most fearless. You weren't afraid to speak your mind and I respect you for that. You didn't shy away from the issues that were most passionate to you, even if those issues appealed more to the minority than the majority. Some might point to that as your downfall, but I think your willingness to stand behind what you believe is something to be proud of. And I know that, as student leaders on this campus, this election will be nothing more than a small stumble in your pursuit of accomplishing the goals and objectives laid out in your platform. I doubt that this will be the last we hear of David and Katie. I would also like to take a moment to commend Katie for how she handled herself during the election after suffering an unimaginable personal tragedy.
I would also like to congratulate the men and women who will hold a seat in senate next year. Your positions in NISG are arguably as important as the president and vice president, and I wish you good luck! You are all going to be important student leaders on this campus and I urge you to not take for granted the tremendous opportunity you've been given.
As I bring this final post to a close, I'd like to also take a moment to recognize Kari Braumann. Kari is the executive editor of the Northern Iowan (and the editor for this blog) and she does not get nearly the credit she deserves for all of the hard work and dedication she brings to this university. I want to thank her so much for the opportunity to write for this blog, because it really has been a fantastic experience and I am grateful to her for it.
Thank you to everyone who has been reading this blog over the past couple weeks! And thank you to everyone who voted! NISG is a very important but undervalued part of this university and I hope that those of you who followed the election this year continue to encourage your peers to take an active interest as well.
With that said, this is Blake Ruane, signing off. See you in the funny papers.
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