ASG presidential race down to a runoff

The long and at times heated campaign between Associated Student Government presidential candidates Mike McGee and Bill Pulte just got a two-day extension.

The ASG presidential race will go to a runoff - Pulte, a Medill junior, received 48.6 percent of the student vote and McGee, a Communication junior, received 47.9 percent of the student vote - with only a 33-vote difference between the two. Neither garnered a majority.

Weinberg junior and presidential candidate Luke Adams received 94 votes, or 2.1 percent of the vote. The runoff will be held Friday with no write-in candidates and no "no confidence" option.

Paul David Shrader, ASG's election commissioner, said the hours for voting on Friday will be released around noon Thursday.

The election drew a record-setting turnout - 4,455 votes were cast - and 4,421 counted - compared to about 3,200 last year, Shrader said.

An afternoon technical issue might have thrown the contest off course.

ASG's voting Web site, asg.northwestern.edu/elections, malfunctioned at around 4:30 p.m. and was down until 6:30 p.m., Shrader said. The voting deadline was extended from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Shrader, a Weinberg senior, estimated that between 500 and 700 students voted after the problem with the Web site was resolved.

Pulte and his campaign spent time after the deadline extension making their way from dorm to dorm on North and South Campus. Pulte made an effort to speak to every prospective voter he encountered.

"It's a quick speed speech," he said. "It's like you have 10 seconds to sell them."

Pulte and his campaign gathered in his room in the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity to await the results. He remarked to his staff about the pace of his campaigning.

"I've never done what I did tonight," Pulte said. "I was just in game mode - I don't even know what I was saying."

When the call came at 10:05 p.m., a collective hush fell amongst the crowd of about 15 supporters.

"Well, at least we're beating them," Pulte said. "It's unfortunate that you have to hit a majority vote."

He said he has high expectations for his campaign in the coming days.

"I wish we would've been able to win in one fell swoop," he said. "But I guess now it's play ball. We look forward to hopefully winning."

On the other end of campus, Mike McGee waited for the results call in the Public Affairs Residential College library. His campaign had gathered at 9 p.m. after last-minute, door-to-door campaigning right until the deadline.

"It was all about beating the clock," he said.

McGee attributed the runoff to effective campaign strategies from both camps.

"We had two strong campaigns and two strong platforms," he said. "So it's not surprising that it was this close."

This past week has been "crazy," he said. After dozens of Facebook updates, a few sleepless nights and a couple of five-hour energy drinks, McGee said he was ready for the next 48 hours.

"There were things in the campaign we wish we could have done," he said. "But now we have that chance."

Previous strategies and messages were erased from the white board and the word "Runoff" underlined as a new brainstorming session began.

"I hope the student body is ready for two more days of campaigning," McGee said. "The key is getting out to people we haven't gotten to yet."

Outgoing ASG President and SESP senior Neal Sales-Griffin also faced his opponent, Weinberg senior Mark Crain, in a runoff last year. In that runoff election, only 40 percent of students who voted in the first election voted again.

Sales-Griffin's suggestions for the runoff included face time with students.

"It's the same advice that I've been giving them the whole time," Sales-Griffin said. "All that matters is getting out and meeting people."

alexfinkel@u.northwestern.edu andewscoggin2007@u.northwestern.edu

Related:Read The Daily's ASG blog to find out what the candidates are doing during the day.