All of the grievances have been resolved — finally.
All the ASUO Constitution Court appeals have been decided — finally.
And, almost a full month after the March 1-2 ASUO presidential election, the result has been released — finally.
In a come-from-behind victory, Jay Breslow and Holly Magner defeated executive front runners C.J. Gabbe and Peter Larson by a tally of 1,037 votes to 806.
“Holy crap!” Breslow said after hearing the news Thursday afternoon. He and Magner placed second in the primary election behind Gabbe and Larson by 286 votes.
The news also came as a shock to ASUO Elections Board member Charlotte Nisser. While she said she believed Breslow would defeat Gabbe, she didn’t expect him and Larson to lose the election with less votes than they received in the primary.
“I thought it would be much closer,” Nisser said.
Breslow said he believes many of the people who voted for other candidates in the primaries chose him and Magner in the generals and that helped turn the election to their favor.
“It wasn’t a huge amount of votes, but it was enough to make a difference,” he said.
Breslow and Magner also said they think the controversy surrounding the Gabbe and Larson campaign turned voters to their side as well.
Gabbe and Larson were kicked off the primary ballot after they bought refreshments for a Feb. 4 International Student Coffee Hour. While the court agreed with the elections board’s decision that the pair broke elections rules by offering a “thing of value” along with campaign posters and information, the court also put them back on the ballot based on a technicality.
Similar grievances and appeals followed throughout the election, and the court decided to withhold the result until they resolved all of them.
Wednesday night, the court decided the final grievance appeal, which kept the result sealed through winter term and spring break. Former presidential candidate Autumn DePoe filed a grievance against Gabbe and Larson, which added more allegations to one filed by Student Sen. Jennifer Greenough. While the elections board agreed with Greenough’s, they rejected DePoe’s, and the court agreed.
“The smell of impropriety fills the air whenever this case, in all its parts, is mentioned,” Justice Ahsan Awan wrote in the court’s opinion. “However, the will of the ASUO must not be set aside any longer. An election took place, ballots were cast, and the people had their say.”
Breslow said he thinks voters realized that what Gabbe and Larson did wasn’t right and voted accordingly.
This proved “you can’t buy an election, you can’t cheat and win and you can’t get off on technicalities,” Breslow said. The result “is good for the University and for student government.”
Gabbe could not be reached for comment, and Larson, after being reached by phone, declined to comment on any part of the election or the result.
Breslow said his campaign responded well to the Gabbe/Larson controversy by generally staying out of it.
“In the end, we did make the ‘Got Ethics?’ ads and wrote an [opinion-editorial] in the Emerald, but I stand behind those decisions,” Breslow said. “I don’t think it was dirty politics. We could have really gotten dirty if we wanted to.”
Magner said their staff also helped students know what they stood for.
“They are an amazing staff. They were willing to take all that time,” she said.
Breslow and Magner will transition into their new jobs immediately. They will spend the next few months working with current ASUO Executive Wylie Chen and Mitra Anoushiravani and take office at the end of spring term.
“This is so overwhelming to me,” Magner said. “I’m just going to get myself as ready as I can. I’m just glad the waiting is over.”
Breslow said they will start working with new student senators and student programs, training them how to lead and where to go when they need resources.
“We want everyone to know who Jay and Holly are and what the ASUO can do for them,” Breslow said.
Breslow, Magner 2000-01 executive
Daily Emerald
March 30, 2000
Azle Malinao-Alvarez Emerald
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