Kovtun, Greer win business, public health senate seats
After yet another week of campaigning, securing endorsements and explaining platforms, the results for the Student Government runoff elections were announced Wednesday evening.
The crowd gathered on the second floor of Russell House erupted with cheers after hearing that Haley Guyton was elected treasurer with 63 percent of the vote, and the cheers continued even more loudly when Ryan Bailey was announced as the future vice president with 54 percent of total vote.
Andrew Kovtun won the senate seat for the Darla Moore School of Business with 53 percent of the vote, defeating Nate Vernon. Jules Greer secured the Arnold School of Public Health’s senate seat with 75 percent of the vote, besting Alexander Almaguer.
Guyton danced with excitement after hearing her name announced. She was joined by her campaign team and supporters, as well as her parents, who funded her campaign.
“From the beginning, I was hitting it hard, and I didn’t stop when we got to the runoff,” Guyton said.
Guyton defeated her opponent, Caroline Hendricks, by 786 votes. Guyton said she felt “honored and blessed,” and she’s eager to dive into the work that awaits her.
“I think it’s going to be fun. I think that [current Treasurer Coy Gibson] will set me up with the tools I need. There’s always going to be something that I can learn,” Guyton said.
Hendricks was unable to be reached for comment after the results were announced.
Bailey celebrated his win with those around him, though his family could not attend the results announcement.
“My dad is at softball practice right now — he coaches Little League,” he said. “So I’m going to have to leave him a very excited voicemail after all of this.”
Amid the many congratulatory hugs and handshakes, Bailey said his next move was to make dinner, as he was feeling lightheaded due to giving blood earlier that afternoon.
Bailey said he used a different strategy for his runoff campaign than he did for the general election.
“We just told people what our platform was,” he said. “We got away from giving out free stuff and told them what it was all about. We focused on the ideas.”
Though Bailey edged out Courtland Thomas by 295 votes, Bailey said he has high hopes for Thomas in the future.
“Courtland is a great guy,” Bailey said. “My only hope is that he stays as involved in Student Government as he already is.”
Thomas said he knew this race would be a close one.
“It’s similar to (former Student Body Vice President Emily) Saleeby’s and (current Student Body President Kenny) Tracy’s election last year, when they went into the runoff close and ended close,” he said.
Thomas said he is certain this is not the end of his SG career, as he plans to apply for a cabinet position next year and may continue planning a full-fledged campaign.
“I don’t know what I’m running for yet — it could be an executive position, it could be senate,” Thomas said. “But I’m looking to bigger and better things. This is not a time to stop. This is a time to keep working.”
Thomas was joined by his mother, Minnie Thomas, a current USC graduate student.
“I could be his campaign manager next year,” she said. “I graduate in the spring of 2014, so I can get my degree and manage his next campaign.”
Thomas said he believed he may have come up short when it came to reaching out to organizations the week before the runoff election.
“Some people may have forgotten that they needed to vote again,” he said. “We didn’t adequately do the job of getting the word out.”
Though this year’s elections featured a higher voter turnout than last year’s, there was a significant difference in the amount of voters for the general election compared to the runoffs. Last week’s race for treasurer had a turnout of 4,290 votes, while this week had 2,940. Similarly, the vice presidential race last week had a total of 4,535 votes, compared to 3,099 votes this week.
Student Body Vice President and president-elect Chase Mizzell said he is looking forward the coming months, especially after such an exciting election race.
“It was a great campaign all the way through,” Mizzell said. “The [increase in voter turnout] is a testament to the quality of leaders that we’re growing at Student Government.”
Mizzell said the first step for all of the new executive officers will be to sit down and discuss their expectations.
“I’m excited for the folks who won, and I’m looking forward to working with them,” Mizzell said.
Editor’s note: Assistant News Editor Amanda Coyne contributed reporting.