In the end, Adam Forsyth’s confidence was no match for “noconfidence.”
Forsyth, the unopposed student services vice presidentialcandidate, only received 43.6 percent of the vote in Thursday’srunoff election, as 56.4 percent of students selected the noconfidence option instead. The position will be filled by the newAssociated Student Government Executive Board through anapplication process.
Forsyth said he hasn’t decided whether he will apply for theposition through the Executive Board, but he trusts them to selecta qualified person for the job.
After losing a close runoff election to President-elect MikeFong, candidate Michael Blake said he is interested in applying forSSVP. Two senators already have told The Daily they were interestedin the post.
Outgoing ASG Academic Vice President Tamara Kagel, who missedthe presidential runoff race by 10 votes, said Thursday night thatshe will not apply for it.
As Forsyth stood waiting for the start of Take Back The Nightbefore hearing the election results, he clutched his girlfriend’scell phone and waited for his call from the ElectionCommission.
The candidate said he was anxious to hear his fate.
“I’m hesitantly confident,” said Forsyth, a Weinberg sophomore,as he plucked leaves off a budding bush near University Hall. “Ihave a good shot, but I won’t know for sure.”
Forsyth said he spent much of the day doing last-minutecampaigning in the Foster-Walker Complex, mustering as many votesas possible. Clutched to his arm was his girlfriend, Weinbergfreshman Luciana Leopold, as he waited with his friends for theelection results.
In the distance he heard a crowd cheering as Fong secured hisplace as ASG’s new president-elect. Forsyth’s friends, looking athim, asked “Have you heard anything yet?”
When a whistle blew to signal the start of “Take Back the Night”at about 8:20 pm, Forsyth’s phone began to vibrate. He pacedquickly toward the Sheridan Road entrance to University Hall withhis cell phone tightly attached to his ear. After hearing the news,his voice started shaking.
“What were the percentages?” he asked.
Forsyth stared with glazed eyes at Leopold and her friend, whowaited for the results several feet behind the hall.
“I lost,” he said.
Forsyth initially said he blamed The Daily’s endorsement of theno confidence option for his loss.
“I think The Daily did a disservice to campus by endorsing noconfidence,” Forsyth said. “It’s a shame it had to happen.”
Matt McCormick, Forsyth’s campaign manager, said he thoughtstudents chose the option because of The Daily’s recommendation,printed Monday on the Forum page.
McCormick also said changes in voting procedures, such asSunday’s decision to allow for write-in votes and the no confidenceoption, hindered his ability to gain a majority of votes.
“I had a strong platform,” Forsyth said. “But it inherentlypresents problems when you have write-ins, no confidence andrunoffs. There’s no reason in the future (for no confidence) aslong as we have write- ins. It’s detrimental to the election as awhole.”
Fong said he would start thinking about filling the position inthe next few days.
Two senators on the Student Services Committee, Jordan Cerf andJason Lake, said independently Thursday night that they wouldconsider applying for the opening.
“I haven’t thought about it at all yet, but I never say no toanything right away,” said Lake, a Weinberg junior who ranunsuccessfully for SSVP in the 2002 election.
