Colorado Robertson and Shannon Bates may have prevailed in the Student Government elections by a slim 13-vote margin, but 11 years ago two young men took office after securing just 10 more votes than their opponents. LSU alumni Larry Centola and Russell Mosely served as SG president and vice president in 1997 after defeating Sam Loftin and Abhay Patel. Former SG vice president Mosely said the numbers reflect what he called one of the most competitive elections of the ’90s. He said he distinctly remembers his rival’s words during heated campaigning more than 10 years ago. “You better get out of my parking lot. This is my parking lot, and I’m going to get every vote,” Mosely said Patel told him. Mosely said he sprinted across the parking lot in an intense race against Patel each time a student rolled up. “We wanted to give them our push card and campaign platform first,” Mosely said. “We really had to work for every single vote. But it was a fun race because it was so competitive.” Centola echoed Mosely’s words about the hard-fought campaign and said the message is clear: every vote counts. “After we won, we won and that was it. But when you do win by that small margin it’s great because everyone on your campaign team takes credit,” said Centola, an attorney. Centola said there was talk about a possible re-count, but it never happened. “I don’t think people necessarily remember [the numbers], except for the people who worked on the campaign and were giving their time and sweat,” Centola said. “It’s a fact that’s forgotten and I don’t think the winner had any less of a mandate because of it.” Before the University began dabbling with voting software in 2002, Mosely said he remembers urging people to find a polling station down to the very last minute when the stations were still used. Campaign staff scrambled to get students into the polling stations offering free rides to the closest poll location, Mosely said. “It closed at 4:30 [p.m.], and I remember I saw people still running at 4:29 [p.m.] and begging to vote right at the cutoff,” he said. “We definitely took advantage of every single second we had to get our vote out. And if we hadn’t done it, we would have lost.” Although voting is now only a few mouse clicks away, SG Elections Commissioner Jacob Gower said he saw a similar scenario this past Wednesday during the runoff election between Robertson-Bates and Dixon-Oaks. Gower said Robertson and his opponents Dixon McMakin and Kristen Oaks stood outside of Middleton Library until about 10 p.m. encouraging students to find a computer and vote. Gower said Bates, mass communication junior, stood in front of 459 Commons Dining Hall during the last few hours before the voting window closed. “They were all talking non-stop,” Gower said. “And certainly when you saw them out in Free Speech Alley, both [McMakin and Robertson] were talking and engaging in conversation with students.” Gower said the four political hopefuls realized every vote counted as it got down to the wire. SG Director of Athletics McMakin and Student Senate Speaker Robertson both strived to have a conversation with as many students as possible, but Gower said the two University leaders have vastly different personalities. “They both have a tremendous desire and drive to get involved and make LSU a better place, but they are not even close to the same person,” Gower said. Centola said students do not realize how much SG impacts their collegiate life, and he hopes students fulfill their duty and vote on all levels – including the U.S. presidential election in November. Mosely said Robertson and Bates should not be concerned about the margins, just about the work and trying to leave a legacy. “Even if you change one little thing, you will always remember it,” Mosely said. Mosely, who now serves as a member of the Board of Supervisors for the University of Louisiana System, said he remembers one of the biggest accomplishments of the Centola-Mosely administration: passing the technology fee. Mosely said he worked with Centola to give almost 200 speeches on campus urging students to pass the fee, which helped with the implementation of the online PAWS voting system students use today.
—-Contact Natalie Messina at [email protected]