Students are one step closer to electing their next Student Government president and vice president after Wednesday’s runoff announcements.
Be Heard’s Taylor Cox and Carrie Hebert and Your LSU’s Landon Hester and Kristina Lagasse will face off in next week’s runoff election, as none of the four candidates won more than 50 percent of the general election vote.
Be Heard received 2,352 votes, or 36.02 percent of the vote, while Your LSU received 1,782 votes, or 27.29 percent.
The election drew 6,529 voters, about 22.5 percent of the total students on campus. That accounts for more voters than the 5,098 who participated in the 2011 election, though the number of voters from each year equate nearly the same percentage of the student body.
The R.E.A.L. Campaign’s Joshua and Joseph Hollins received 1,272 votes, or 19.48 percent of the vote. Renew LSU’s Bat Brunner and Madeleine Davis received 1,123 votes, or 17.2 percent.
The results are not official until Friday at 4:30 p.m., the deadline for any complaints to be filed, according to SG Commission of Elections Amelia Burns.
Students, parents and faculty packed Howe-Russell Geoscience Complex room E134 until all seats were taken, and there was a standing-room-only section. Burns flipped through a slideshow that announced the winners and the runoff candidates for other SG positions until the presidential and vice presidential results were announced.
Students clad in green for the Be Heard ticket and yellow for Your LSU jumped out of their seats, screamed and hugged one another when the results were projected on two screens at the front of the room.
“I do not believe it,” Cox said.
Hebert assured him the results were real.
“That’s what hard work does, Taylor,” Hebert told him.
Cox said he couldn’t have received so many votes without the help of the Be Heard ticket’s candidates and volunteers.
“I am completely in awe of every single candidate,” Cox said. “They have literally put their heart and soul, blood, sweat and tears in this campaign.”
Cox said Be Heard will continue to campaign this week.
“We were out there at 6 a.m.,” he said. “We will not lower our standards.”
Lagasse said Your LSU will campaign even more this week than last week to compensate for the gap of 570 votes between the tickets.
“By the end of the week, there’s not going to be much left of us,” she said. “We definitely can rally up more support.”
Hester said he looks forward to trying to make up the deficit of the general election.
“I’m excited we’re going to be challenged this next week,” he said, adding he won’t take the Be Heard duo lightly.
Renew LSU will now support Be Heard, Brunner said.
“I believe both candidates are more than capable for the job,” he said. “However, I lean toward the Be Heard campaign.”
Brunner said he favors Be Heard because he relates more to Cox, who doesn’t have as high of a position in SG as Hester.
Be Heard and Your LSU candidates said they were impressed by the Renew LSU ticket.
“Bat came in three or four months ago with impressive force,” Hebert said. “He and Madeleine are probably two of the best people on campus.”
Hester said he was shocked at Brunner’s work.
“Bat blew me away with his willingness to learn,” he said.
The R.E.A.L. Campaign’s Hollins brothers said they have not decided who they will support in the runoff election, but they will discuss it.
Hebert said she was surprised at the number of votes the brothers received because their ticket didn’t include legions of candidates for lesser positions as other tickets did.
“The fact they got this many votes single-handedly is truly amazing,” she said.
Hester said if elected, he would be willing to work with the Hollins twins in the future.
“Josh and Joe are two of the most intelligent people,” he said. “I truly hope I can work with them in the future.”
Students can vote for presidential and vice presidential candidates Monday and Tuesday from 7 a.m. to 6:59 p.m. via PAWS or myLSU.
Download the general election results here.
____
Contact Danielle Kelley at [email protected]