Final ASUSU candidates announced
Current ASUSU officers announced the candidates who will be moving on to the finals portion of this week’s student body elections.
The race getting the most talk at the announcement was that for student body president. Hannah Blackburn had the highest number of votes, followed by Christian Thrapp. Thrapp earned his spot in the finals by one vote, beating Smitty Hartley and Adam Vail.
“It’s definitely exciting,” Thrapp said. “Smitty and Adam were great opponents who would have done a great job. There’s a lot of work ahead of us. Luckily, I have a great campaign committee who are backing me — turns out every vote counts.”
Blackburn said she is excited to be moving on and looks forward to the rest of the week.
“I was surprised to see how close it was,” she said. “I was hoping to make primaries and have some exciting things planned for finals. I’m excited to get out there and keep campaigning.”
Of the 17 positions being filled in this election, five had more than two people running — the two candidates who received the most votes for each position in the primary elections will advance to the finals.
The student advocate position was one requiring an elimination. Christian Orr had the most votes, followed by Anthony “TJ” Pratt.
“I am just overwhelmed, grateful and thankful that Utah State students are actually getting out and voting,” Pratt said. “I’m still nervous, I have a lot to work on, but there’s a lot riding on this campaign, and I’m just trying to keep it all together. I’m going to come out with a new flair and a new fire.”
Orr said nothing has changed or developed in his platform during the first two days of elections. He said he plans to continue the same campaign strategies and philosophies through the finals.
“I feel very strongly that students need to do more than just be heard, they need to be actively contributing. When they are just heard, very few speak and very little gets done. I’m going to continue to promote my platforms,” he said. “I encourage all student voters to be aware that this position oversees the proper use of millions of dollars of student fees and that needs to be a careful and education decision.”
Rhett Wilkinson who was running for senator of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences was disqualified for not strictly following election guidlines, said Kirsten Frank, executive vice president.
“I was looking forward to helping the College of Humanities and Social Sciences make huge strides next year,” Wilkinson said. “I hope something of that nature can still happen.”
With several candidates running unopposed, two positions had students jump in with aggressive write-in campaigns. Kyle Niedrich is running for Service vice president against Jeremy Nef, and Tasi Taylor is vying for the Diversity and Organizations position against Mariana Ochoa.
“I just have to get people to know my name and know that I’m running,” Niedrich said. “It’s all about name recognition.”
Final campaigning begins at 7 a.m. on Wednesday. The announcement of the 2012-13 officers will be made at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday in the TSC International Lounge.
– megan.allen@usu.edu