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Campaigners charge the Marvin Center for early morning postering
This post was written by Hatchet reporter Kaya Yurieff.
A stampede of students clutching rolls of duct tape and fistfuls of flyers charged the Marvin Center Wednesday morning, clamoring for the campus’ most coveted wall space.
Student Association campaign volunteers and candidates swarmed Kogan Plaza as early as 6:30 a.m. for the annual tradition that jolts GW into election mode.
Phil Gardner, chair of the Joint Elections Committee, fired up the bundled-up crowd as they stretched their legs and got into running stances.
“Four, three, two, ONE!” Gardner shouted as the candidates and supporters trampled each other on the short strip separating them from prime postering terrain.
“It’s pure chaos, I’ll say that much,” Kirk Wilson, treasurer of the JEC, said as he watched over the action.
Freshman Michael Morgan, running for an Elliott School of International Affairs senator spot, said he had a “blast” and can’t wait for elections.
SA elections will be held Feb. 22 and Feb. 23.
Richardson, Costigan win Student Association election runoff
President-elect John Richardson greets supporters after clinching the Student Association top spot Thursday night. Francis Rivera | Contributing Photo Editor
John Richardson beat out Chris Clark for Student Association president by a margin of just 34 votes Thursday night.
Eric Thibault, right, congratulates Ted Costigan, the newly elected executive vice president of the SA, Thursday. Francis Rivera | Contributing Photo Editor
Richardson, a sophomore, earned 50.6 percent of the vote to Clark’s 49.4 percent.
“It was a close race, but I’m excited to get started,” Richardson said. “We have a lot of big things on our plate and we can’t wait to get the ball rolling.”
Ted Costigan was elected executive vice president over Amanda Galonek with 53.7 percent of the vote.
“Students want a fighter and I’m answering to that call,” Costigan, a junior, said.
The student body also approved a referendum to create an instant runoff voting system by 61 percent.
Clark, Costigan face potential removal from runoff ballot
Student Association presidential candidate Chris Clark and executive vice presidential candidate Ted Costigan each face enough campaign violations to potentially remove them from the runoff election ballot, a member of the Joint Elections Committee said Friday.
The JEC found probable cause on eight complaints made against Clark and on four against Costigan, in addition to four other complaints the JEC validated against Costigan Wednesday.
JEC Vice Chair Hardy Farrow said Clark’s violations stem from campaign poster infractions and sending unsolicited e-mails. Costigan’s are related to posters, “disrupting University functions and distributing campaign material inside a University building,” Farrow said.
It takes six penalties to be removed from the ballot. Penalties are assessed based on the number of violations a candidate is convicted of.
Both candidates already received violations Tuesday for postering on the walls adjacent to the entrance of Ross Hall. Clark received two and Costigan received one, based on the number of posters hanging on the building’s walls.
Clark is set to face off against presidential candidate John Richardson in the runoff, and Costigan is pitted against Amanda Galonek after Thursday’s election results. JEC Chair Galen Petruso said the committee has yet to determine what will happen if either candidate is removed from the ballot. He said the runoff would likely be delayed and the next runner-up would be added to the ballot.
Kwasi Agyeman came in third in the presidential race and Samantha Free came in third in the EVP race.
Newly-elected SA School of Business Sen. Nick Koeniger will also be tried for two violations and Elliott School of International Affairs Sen. Elizabeth Kennedy will be tried for one.
The runoff elections are scheduled for March 23 and 24.
Clark, Richardson to move to SA presidential runoff; Costigan, Galonek for EVP runoff
SA Presidential Candidate Chris Clark, center, celebrates moving on to a runoff election with his supporters. Jordan Emont | Contributing Photo Editor
Both races for Student Association president and executive vice president will head to a runoff, after none of the candidates garnered enough votes Thursday night to win the election outright.
Chris Clark and John Richardson will face off in a runoff election election for SA president, and Ted Costigan and Amanda Galonek will move to a runoff for EVP.
Executive Vice Presidential candidate Ted Costigan received more than 30 percent of the vote, and will move on to the runoff. Francis Rivera | Contributing Photo Editor
Runoff elections occur between the top two vote-getters when no candidate reaches 40 percent of the vote.
Clark won 26.2 percent and Richardson received 25 percent. In the EVP race, Costigan won 32.5 percent and Galonek got 26.5 percent.
The Joint Elections Committee announced the results in the Marvin Center Thursday night to a full Continental Ballroom.
“I’m very happy with the outcome,” Clark said. ”We’re going to come back after spring break ready to rock and roll. This has been the most competitive presidential race for the SA.”
EVP candidate Amanda Galonek celebrates moving on to the runoff. Jordan Emont | Contributing Photo Editor
Richardson was not present for the election results, but said before the election that he is excited ” to build upon” the “great amount of momentum” generated during the general election.
“I’m fired up and ready to come back after break,” Galonek said. “We’ve worked extremely hard and I’ve had great support from the campaign team.”
Costigan expressed the same sentiments.
“The students want a fighter and I’m happy to stand up and be that person,” Costigan said. “I’m ready to come back and fight.”
The runoff elections will be held March 23 and 24.
JEC gives violations to nine more candidates
Nine more Student Association candidates received election penalties from the Joint Elections Committee Wednesday night, halfway through the two-day election period. None of them received enough to be removed from the ballot.
After debating in executive session for half an hour, JEC members determined SA presidential candidate Chris Clark, executive vice presidential candidates Ted Costigan and Zahin Hasan, and SA Senate hopefuls Danica Brown, Daniel Bassali and Jonathan Carfagno guilty of hanging campaign posters on the exterior walls adjacent to the entrance of Ross Hall.
According to the election charter, postering in this area is grounds for violation. JEC Chief Investigator Willard Applefeld said posters adjacent to the Ross Hall entrance give candidates an unfair advantage “up and down 23rd Street.”
Penalties were determined based on every fifth poster, or fraction thereof. Hasan received four penalties, Clark and Bassali each received two violations, and Costigan, Carfagno, and Brown each received one.
It takes six penalties to remove a candidate from the ballot.
“It’s unfortunate,” Clark said afterward. “But we’re going to keep powering through it. It was not intentional and was a complete misread of the charter. We’re going to move forward from here.”
EVP candidate Aria Varasteh also received one violation for covering Costigan’s last name on a poster with tape.
“I just did not check the Academic Building at the end of the day. It was a mistake.” Varasteh said. “It’s the day before the election, I am not going to contest.
Presidential candidate Kwasi Agyeman, who received two penalties last week for sending unsolicited e-mails to student organization leaders, was also tried for hanging posters on Ross Hall, but was the only candidate not found guilty.
Agyeman argued that based on the evidence, it was unclear whether his posters were hanging at Ross Hall or not.
The JEC also handed down penalties to senate candidates Manuel Iglesias and Patrick Cero for not getting their posters approved. Both received one penalty each.
JEC Chair Galen Petruso said the committee will disclose its reasoning for the decisions within 72 hours.
“The specific reasons as to why candidates were found in violation will be found in the committee’s finding of fact, which will be adopted within 72 hours of the decision,” Petruso said. ”While it is regretable that penalties had to be assessed, the JEC operates under the charter it is given and must conduct elections accordingly.”
The JEC’s next violations hearing will be held after spring break. Costigan currently faces four additional violations and senate candidate Elizabeth Kennedy faces one.
Voting will resume Thursday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
JEC announces location for election results
The Joint Elections Committee will announce the results of the Student Association, Marvin Center Governing Board, Class Council and Program Board elections in the Marvin Center Continental Ballroom Thursday.
In previous years, the JEC made these announcements in the Marvin Center’s Columbian Square.
Polls are open 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday.
If no candidate receives more than 40 percent of the vote for a specific seat, runoff elections will be held March 23 and 24.
SA candidates frustrated with removal of campaign posters at the Marvin Center
After sprinting across H Street at 7 a.m. Friday to place their campaign posters on one of the most visible spots on campus, Student Association candidates found several of their posters are no longer hanging on the brick facade at the Marvin Center.
SA candidates expressed their discontent with the posters’ removal, saying candidates and their supporters spent their time and money on the posters that were removed.
Joint Elections Committee chair Galen Petruso said the committee is working to solve the problem. Several students who saw the posters being removed said they believed they were taken down by Marvin Center staff.
“Currently it’s not known why the posters were removed,” Petruso said.
Keaghan Ames, who is running for an Undergraduate-At Large senate seat, said he was upset to see the posters he and his friends woke up at 6 a.m. to hang taken down.
“Candidates put so much time and effort into the event and it’s now just a waste,” Ames said. “And now, it’s an unfair advantage because people can now go and put their posters up there after we fought for those influential places.”
Petruso said his best advice to candidates whose posters were removed is to put them back up.
“While it is unfortunate, there is nothing that can be done, the best advice is for candidates to rehang posters in the open spots,” Petruso said.
Student Association candidates poster campus
Candidates and supporters braved the early-morning cold Friday to stakeout premier real estate for their campaign posters. Jordan Emont | Contrbuting Photo Editor
Joint Elections Committee chair Galen Petruso had just one question for the 100-or-so Student Association candidates and supporters eagerly waiting in Kogan Plaza Friday morning:
“Are you ready?,” he roared into his megaphone.
With those words, and Petruso’s 7 a.m. alarm, the herd of students sprinted across H Street, determined to find the premier real estate for their campaign posters at the Marvin Center and University Yard.
“You have to run fast, you have to put up a lot of posters and you need to create space,” a candidate for a seat in the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences’ senate seats and 3-year postering veteran Josh Goldstein said.
Prepared for the fight, several students dressed in athletic shorts and sneakers, with sweatshirts and jackets as their only defense against 30 degree temperatures. Looking for a split-second of an edge, many of the candidates devised plans before daybreak Friday.
“I have the most aggressive [people] running straight up to the Marvin Center, and cross-country runners going over to U-Yard,” executive vice presidential candidate Amanda Galonek said.
U-at large candidate John Bennett jokingly stretched with his team, not wanting to “pull a muscle halfway between [Kogan] and the Marvin Center.”
“Just out run everyone in the first 3 seconds,” Bennett said of his strategy, hoping his broken phone was not a sign of bad “karma” for his team.
Students had covered the walls in sleek posters within minutes of reaching the Marvin Center but continued to tape and re-tape to prevent D.C.’s high-powered wind from blowing away their work.
Fighting for the best spots, students wrestled and shoved to block out opponents. Students hoisted each other in the air and stole chairs from J Street to reach the higher spots.
When students had finally caught their breath, and the tape-throwing subsided, the building’s brick walls had been swept over in bright posters with even bolder names.
DJ Sigworth, sophomore campaigning for executive vice president candidate Amanda Galonek, taped posters to the Marvin Center Friday. Michelle Rattinger | Photo Editor
While U-At Large candidate Cory Grever’s orange posters vibrantly stood out from the rest, it was presidential candidate Chris Clark’s team of 30-or-so friends that dominated the scene.
Coming prepared with smaller posters taped together to form larger sheets, Clark’s strategy was to cover “every spot imaginable” and by 7:30 a.m., his glossy blue posters largely covered the Marvin Center.
“This is my favorite SA tradition,” Clark said. “It’s the satisfaction of running up and getting the best spots on campus.”
Freshman Elizabeth Kennedy, running for Elliott School of International Affairs senator, said it was unfair to make friends come to a “ridiculous event.”
“It should not be about the posters you have. People are too concerned about their posters and not enough with their campaigns and issues,” Kennedy said.
As the event died down, Petruso said it took the candidates longer to sweep and conquer the walls than in previous years.
“We’re very pleased with the way things turned out,” Petruso said. “There were no major incidents, but candidates did move slower than in the past.”
Postering day marks the official start of the campaigning period.
