Mizzell wins VP, other contests remain undecided
Kenny Tracy placed first in the Student Government presidential election Wednesday with 40.9 percent of the vote, but hours later, he was threatened with disqualification from the race altogether.
Tracy's campaign was accused of its third elections violation in two days. The first, a minor incident, was dismissed by the elections commission. The second accused Tracy's staff of recruiting campaign members by promising them cabinet positions. It resulted in a 4.5-point penalty and put him on the brink of elimination. Tracy's campaign will appeal that penalty to the constitutional commission Monday night.
The third violation, brought Wednesday, alleged he'd campaigned illicitly using a university-owned table on Greene Street. The elections commission issued only a warning to Tracy's campaign.
A runoff election will now take place between Tracy and second-place candidate Emily Saleeby, who finished with 34.6 percent of the vote.
John Cuenin, who received roughly 20 percent of the vote, has been eliminated from the race. Shortly after losing, Cuenin initially endorsed Tracy, citing Tracy's "vision for the university" and "drive to actually accomplish goals," as well as "a group supporting him that has passion for improving the lives of students on campus."
Upon realizing he would still have a shot at the runoff if Tracy were disqualified, Cuenin rescinded his endorsement. When it was announced Tracy would not be eliminated from the runoff, Cuenin said he'd jumped the gun at first and wanted to think his endorsement through.
"I'll probably be endorsing sometime this weekend," Cuenin said. "I want to try to get a feel for where exactly [Saleeby and Tracy] want to bring the organization and, by association, the university. I want to see if they have the same ideals I do about making Student Government relevant ... Everybody else had three weeks to decide; now I have a couple of days."
Unopposed candidate Chase Mizzell received 2,830 votes for vice president — all but one write-in vote, for second-year economics student Kenneth Bragg, whose role in the treasurer race had much larger implications.
"I'm feeling great," Mizzell said with a smile. "I'm excited to get all the senators together and get to work."
After results were announced, Mizzell, who has made a point of not endorsing a presidential candidate, walked around and congratulated each.
"I guess we are the 99 percent," Mizzell joked about his campaign, referencing the 99.9 percent margin by which he won the election.
Saleeby, who quickly walked off to her vice president's office when the results were called, explained her hasty exit later Wednesday evening.
"I was immediately thinking strategy," Saleeby said. "I feel like I'm in the eye of a hurricane."
She said she wanted a fair election, but hoped students, not the elections commission, would decide the outcome of the election.
"I don't want a violation to be a deciding factor in who does or doesn't win, but I think everybody should play by the rules," Saleeby said before Tracy's verdict was announced.
After it was announced Tracy would still be her opponent, Saleeby said it was the elections commission's prerogative to judge the allegation and that she was simply preparing for the runoff.
Emerging from the conference room after the warning was announced, Tracy looked relieved.
"We're running the smoothest campaign possible," he said. "I'm happy it was dismissed, and I'm looking forward to moving on in the runoff."