Howard W. Buffett was removed from the April 12th election ballot Friday night after publicly withdrawing his candidacy for Associated Student Government Executive Vice President.
According to Election Commission Chair Gabe Matlin, ASG’s constitution precludes removing a candidate from the election ballot for any reason. However, the commission took Buffett off the ballot after the former candidate sent an e-mail claiming he would take his case to the ASG Judicial Board if his name was included.
“I think we’re just going to remove his name because I don’t think anyone cares, even though it’s technically against the constitution,” Matlin said.
If anyone decides to bring a complaint to the judicial board, the situation could become complicated, he said.
But Matlin said he does not expect any complaints.
The remaining EVP candidate, Communications sophomore Jay Schumacher, has continued campaigning as normal, he said. Schumacher said he is unphased by Buffett’s allegations against him.
Before renouncing his candidacy during EVP and Presidential Debates on Thursday, Buffett accused Schumacher of running a smear campaign against him and his family. Buffett called his opponent an anti-reform “ASG insider.”
“I’m still going around doing everything I would have done,” Schumacher said. “The reaction’s been comforting. A lot of people have come up to me, and they’re like ‘This is ridiculous. Anyone who knows you knows you would have never said this.'”
Communication freshman Jessica Vaughn said Buffett’s accusations did not affect her choice to vote for Schumacher.
“From what I know about Jay, he doesn’t seem like the type of person to do something like that,” she said.
Schumacher continued to deny Buffett’s allegations and pleaded innocent to the smear tactics his opponent accused him of using.
“The point is that my campaign didn’t do this, didn’t engage in this type of public slander,” Schumacher said. “Howie is still someone I consider a partner.”
Schumacher said he is looking forward to Buffett’s return to ASG as an off-campus senator, an intention which Buffett expressed in interviews with The DAILY.
“I think it’s going to be great for everybody,” Schumacher said. “He’s going to hold everybody accountable, which I think is important not only for ASG but for the entire student body.”
Since the debate night bombshell, Buffett and Schumacher have met twice — once to talk about ASG and another time to speak on a more personal level.
Late Thursday night after the debates, the two talked for more than an hour over an impromptu dinner at Steak n’ Shake.
Each tells a somewhat different version of events. According to Schumacher, Buffett apologized, admitting he knew that the attacks had not come from Schumacher’s campaign.
Asked if Schumacher’s claims were true, Buffett said he never made that apology.
Weinberg senior Mitch Holzrichter, a mutual friend who was also at the dinner, said he couldn’t remember any specifics of the conversation.
“It seemed like they were both OK with everything,” he said.
After being told that Buffett denied the apology, Schumacher said he wanted to avoid a public game of “he said-he said.”
“The fact was we sat down, we talked about it, I feel like we’re both on the same page now, and we’re both ready to move forward from there,” he said.
Buffett said he still plans to write in a vote of “no confidence” against Schumacher come the election.
Reach Jordan Weissmann at [email protected].
