Thomas takes it

Student Body Secretary Thomas Kincaid became the Student Body President-elect early Friday morning defeating opponent junior Michael Dorff in a run-off election.

The victory came after a high-tension evening in which the Senate Membership Committee investigated complaints from both candidates regarding the other’s campaigning techniques in the period since the general election.

But in the end Kincaid, a sophomore, eked ahead with 51 percent of the vote.

“I’m excited to continue to serve students for another year,” he said. “Michael was an extraordinary candidate and remains a great friend.”

Tensions rose in the Student Activity Center Thursday night as members of the Senate Membership Committee sat down to decide if either candidate had broken the election code in a battle of “he did, I didn’t.”

According to Senate sources, Kincaid filed a complaint against the Dorff campaign because of a public endorsement letter sent out by Jonathan Musser, president of the Student Bar Association, to the mailbox of every law student.

In response to the allegations, Dorff said it would be impossible for either candidate to be held responsible for the actions of his supporters.

“I did my best to run a clean campaign,” he said.

Dorff suggested that Kincaid’s hands were not completely clean either after he received a copy of a mass e-mail encouraging voters to support Kincaid in the run-off. He also filed a complaint.

The Senate election code forbids candidates to campaign through mass mailings.

“Information [in the e-mails] led me to believe that Kincaid had them sent out on his behalf,” Dorff said.

A friend sent the pro-Kincaid e-mails to Dorff.

The membership committee held both complaints after hours of deliberation and no penalties were assessed to either candidate.

Students cast 1,372 votes in the run-off election. Only 1,211 were cast in the general election. Although Dorff received, nearly 49 percent of those votes, Kincaid still maintained his lead throughout the night.

“I will work hard to push my agenda no matter what position I’m in,” Dorff said after the final results were released.

The original elections, initially set to take place on Feb. 25 and 26, were rescheduled due to last week’s debilitating ice storm that closed the campus for two days.

But when voters turned out at the poles on March 4 and 5, they gave Kincaid 49.3 percent of the votes. Dorff received 41.1 percent and a third candidate, junior Blake Norvell received 9.6 percent. Because no candidate received a majority of the votes, the Senate Membership Committee called a run-off election.

“Because we had three strong candidates, we were all forced to hit the pavement and pursue new groups of students,” Dorff said. “The three of us campaigned our hearts out.”

Kincaid will take charge of the Senate in May. His staff will include vice president Lindsey Hummert and Secretary Ashley Earnest.

In other election results released Friday, Cristina Vranga was elected Hispanic senator, Michael Dorff, Kate Parkhouse and Michael Figueroa were elected Meadows senators and Jack Weiss, Todd Kurn, Adam Russell, Robert Quach, Chris Robertson and Charles Smith were elected business senators.

Thomas takes it

Thomas takes it