ASUO presidential candidates Amelie Rousseau and Alex McCafferty will debate one another tonight, each hoping to get a leg up on the opponent, but recent events have brought into question the idea of having ASUO elections debates in the first place.
The debate, which will take place at 7 p.m. in the Gerlinger Alumni Lounge, is being overshadowed by the events of the March 30 presidential question-and-answer session.
Then, candidates Cassi Gritzmacher and Lucas McAdams walked out before answering a single question. McAdams announced to a largely empty Gerlinger Alumni Lounge that the debate was “a waste of time” because the only people there, mostly from campaigns or campus publications, had already decided which candidate would get their vote.
“I see not a lot of people, and I see a lot of familiar faces,” McAdams said.
The evidence of the primary election results supported McAdams’ statements. The general consensus among those who either watched the event in person or followed the running commentaries on the Internet, was that presidential candidate Jairo Castaneda and his running mate, Alex Esparza, won the debate. The two even posted a message on their Web site trumpeting their performance.
Castaneda and Esparza finished third in the election, however, about 400 votes short of a spot in the general election.
After the question-and-answer session, Elections Coordinator Nolan Gary said the ASUO’s Elections Board would take measures to prevent another small turnout.
“Next time, one of our big things is going to be getting more people here,” he said.
To that end, Elections Board spokesperson Cristina Dunning said the board has been working to publicize the debate. She said the board sent notifications about it to the University’s sororities and fraternities, created new posters, and sent messages on Facebook and Twitter, in addition to buying advertisements in the Emerald.
On Monday, Dunning also said the board planned to send an e-mail message to all students later that night.
“A big push also has to do with the candidates,” Dunning said. “They need to bring their
parties along.”
Dunning was referring to other candidates running for other positions in alliance with Rousseau and McCafferty, but McCafferty said he had no such plans.
“I want my candidates to be campaigning,” he said. “They already know our platform, and I want them to be working hard in other areas.”
Rousseau’s spokesperson, Braden Wolf, also said there were no specific plans to bring candidates along.
“I don’t know what their plans are,” he said of those running with Castaneda’s slate, who have since endorsed Rousseau and those working for her campaign.
Wolf said, however, that he hoped undecided voters would attend the debate and be swayed. McCafferty said that even if voters didn’t turn up, they could still read about it in campus publications on Wednesday.
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