I did used to disagree with the runoff idea... but this is clearly no contest.

I was a DW and Andrew fan, but now I see the reasoning behind all of this. A job well done and an election well won for Pat and James.

I look forward to good things coming from you guys!

When Pat Lauinger and James McDonough bragged about "their" Georgetown, they were clearly talking about their boys in the GUSA Senate. What a joke.

Do you know how many senators supported which different candidates?

Get a clue, buddy.

If anything, Brian Kesten is himself a senator, as are several of his friends.
DW and Andrew have several Philodemic friends in the senate.
Dietz and Stone had at least several supporters.

Quit it with the conspiracy theories.

Oh great, now Joe Hoya won so were all supposed to cheer and hand him the presidency and go on with our lives.....Dont worry, the coronation has just been made official everyone!

Ehhh, he came to my door and seemed like your typical politician, fake and scripted. If his door-to-door skills are any indication of his governing style...he will be a typical lousy politician, inheriting a lousy excuse for a student government.

Interhall anyone?

Yep pretty much.....I have to wonder, does he really care about me? And then I realize the election is over and it hits me..No he doesnt....hes already been elected.

He doesnt have my respect.

This second election is not legitimate, and was a true sham. DW himself did not even vote in it. Indeed, the system first implemented allowed for an instant runoff, so why was there a need for a second? I doubt that alleged alphabetical bias would benefit DW much at all.

So, congrats to two resume-pumping complainers who will inherit the leadership position of an irrelevant organization.

Farce,

What exactly is less legitimate about it? The fact that MORE people -- 200 more -- voted in this election than in the last one? The fact that the ballot was far clearer, and in random order (though DW was still at the top)? The fact that DW was *still* on the ballot, yet managed to still only get 488 votes (from his last time of 422), while Pat went from 615 to 918 this time around?

Come now. Unless 2500 COMPLETELY different Georgetown students voted in this election, it just shows that the ballot really was the problem. Otherwise DW would've won by the same healthy margins, rather than not even making it past the second round this time.

Alright Pat (or one of your cronies)....well put argument...your forget that it appears the last election was taken from DW Cartier and Andrew Rugg and put right into your hands.

=)....heres to more self-segregation, disunity, and apathy towards our leaders.

Hate to say that, honestly I do.

It's...just the sad truth.

I'm not a full-fleged Pat and James supporter. I know Pat personally and do like him, although I did not vote for them with my first vote. Regardless of the debate over the fairness of the second election, there are a few points that should be made:

1. It is illogical and biased to assume that because Pat and James are "Joe Hoyas" that they are a) politicians in this to build their resumes, that b) they don't care about students. Without evidence of this actually being true, this judgment is based solely on appearance or "social" role and not about their actual beliefs.

2. Judging from the Hoya articles, all the comments, and my personal coversations with GUSA members, it appears fairly obvious that every candidate had many supporters in the senate (one or two may have had more supporters in the senate than Pat and James). The GUSA President and Vice-President (they have virtually no stake in the election, they didn't endorse anyone), the election commissioner (a great leader from Senior Class Committee who I highly doubt is worried enough about GUSA to rig an election her senior year), the OTHER CANDIDATES, and the Senate all wanted a revote with a new ballot. Unless all these parties are covert Pat and James supports to the point that they would put their credibility on the line to see the "establishment candidate" win (especially when many of the aforementioned parties are graduating in a few months), then the conspiracy theories don't make much sense. A conspiracy theory grounded in actual facts is fine, but a conspiracy theory as an emotional reaction is illogical.

3. I personally think it is important to not follow the lead of the Clinton campaign and cast this election in racial terms. I have seen a lot of comments which seem to insinuate that because Pat and James are white "Joe Hoyas," they inherently foster self-segregation and disunity. This is an unfair attack, as it is a judgment of their attitudes, beliefs, and actions without much knowledge of those things. It also seems to put forth the premise that without a minority GUSA president, the student body will be self-segregated, which seems false within itself. I highly doubt that self-segregation is closely linked with GUSA. There are certainly other issues it is linked with, as it is a very important issue not only on campus but in our country. However, GUSA does not seem to be strong enough or legitimate enough to be the deciding factor in this fight.

Just some points for thought. Naturally, there are many who are rightfully upset at parts of this election. Many may disagree with platform points of Pat and James and thus not want them as President and Vice President. However, to build them up as evil, establishment straw men only to rip them to shreds is not only unfair, but unintelligent and illogical. I'd expect more from students attending this awesome university.

The only reason DW and Andrew won in the first place was that since they were placed first alphabetically on the ballot, once people selected their top one or two they just went alphabetically. This is why DW and Andrew were not even close to being in the running until many ballots in.

look at the bar graphs in The Hoya from the first election!

it is clear that pat and james had a significant lead over DW and Andrew for almost the whole way. it's just the fact of the matter.

if people had originally had the option to only rank as many or as few as they had liked, don't you think they would have taken it?

wouldn't you yourself have done so?

for those of you keeping track at home, this is the third time in five years that the winner of the presidential election changed after the election commission got involved. Kelly and Luis won in 2004 after three months (and alleged deal-making with the now-defunct stewards, whose candidates were running against them), Twister won after objecting to Khalil providing laptops for voters in Leo's (though members of Twister's staff had done the same thing), and now these two jokers robbed DW and his running mate.

And if you think that no one has a vested interest in the outcome, you're an idiot. The Pres and VP get stipends, free and preferential housing, and course credit. The job is a prize for which they are rewarded. They also distribute dozens of appointed positions to their supporters and campaign staff. You had better believe that if members of their staff had strings to pull, they were doing it all week.

This is a big blow. The first ballot should have been the one taken into account, not the second one. There was no computer mistake I assume, so those votes were accurate. If this was the case, the student body voted for the correct candidates. Since everyone was exposed that Cartier and the now winning candidates (I honestly don't know who they are), this has cause the student body to see who were the popular vote.
The outcome also allowed the other two candidates to be part of the second ballot and with their effort, they were able to take votes away from D.W. because the other candidates were concerned about diversity, not other unimportant issues.
When you see the other candidates, whether is Dietz, Cartier, or Williams, they are people that are easy to talk to. Even though I am walking around Leo's by myself, when they look at people, they give a simple smile. What that means is that they are friendly people and open to listen to the community.
On the other hand, Dowd and Kelly are only about their friends. If they want to be the face of the Student Body, they should be willing to talk with other groups. They should make the effort to leave their comfort zone and talk to minority groups per say.
What I know is that they will make the effort to help the typical "Joe Hoya"--and I know everyone knows the characteristics of this persona.
The will be concerned with the ALCOHOL POLICY and things that will benefit the high social class community at Georgetown.
Talking about the Alcohol Policy, that is his biggest issue according to his FACEBOOK. Also he talks about Party for a Cause, which I assume it has to do with the extravagant social life, the people that disrupts others sleep. Having drunk people at Georgetown has been negative towards many people because I have been discriminate by these people.
Also, Dowd seems to be they typical rich Hoya. Just looking at his picture, he likes to travel to places. Yes, he did go to India and perhaps saw people that did not live his lifestye, but as you can see, he has wine and appears to have a great time in India. Living the life of the wealthy.
If he was a concerned individual, he should have gone to the poor communities in India and show pictures of him helping the poor. Dowd should be wearing t-shirts, proving his humility as a man. Unfortunately, he just wants to enjoy about HIS own life and wants to help people that share his own persona.
Georgetown has been going through several conflicts, especially with diversity issues. If Dowd wants to be the voice of reason, he should not help for negative causes, he should stand up for positive causes.
I think that if there is two protests at the same time like the ones we had last semester (Jenna Six and the Alcohol Policy protest), I am sure he will be more in support of the Alcohol Policy.
As it is proclaimed, Dowd will be the president. IF he wants to prove himself as a leader (no GUSA presidents in the recent past have achieved that), he needs to stand up for good causes, not bad causes. Help the poor, not the rich.
Here's an idea: create a scholarship program for need-based students.

It is absurd to think that candidates can gain advantage on the voting process because their name is first on the ballot.
Students at Georgetown do not vote because of alphabetical order, they vote for who they believe deserves to represent this great school.

Georgetown students are not low-minded, we only have bright students -except those people that are concerned about drinking, partying hard, and being crazy.

Something that is sad is why we only had four candidates in the last ballot? Why not have the eight candidates that were running. I am sure people would have still voted for the other candidates. Who knows, that might had made a difference in this last election. Perhaps the supporters of the forgotten candidates gave their votes to Pat because he is the only remaining Joe Hoya in the ballot. Dietz is not Joe Hoya because he does in fact open up to different groups.

Since Joe Hoya won, I'm pretty sure there will not be another vote. Is over. Until next time when an "outsider" succeeds, there will be another ballot so that we can keep the Joe Hoya tradition.
That is sad, sad, sad.

The comment on top is interesting.

If the US government operated like GUSA, Jeb Bush would be our next president

This is disgusting

Cassidy,

Why not use instant runoff this year?
Think about now, not about the future. This is so silly. If you think the instant runoff is going to be the best think for next year. Why not use that process this year. Think about what's good.

Wow! people have strong opinions above.
Too bad people won't listen to us.

people do listen, unless you give them the straw-man argument that a witty 9th-grader could pick up on.

Wow. Ad hominem attacks against Dowd just cause he's rich? What if I had bashed someone else who won for being poor? What if I had said "Look at the way he dresses, who has that little money could ever hope to be a successful GUSA president." You would (and rightfully so) tar and feather me and every thing I stand for. Socio-economic prejudice runs both ways and it's reprehensible no matter what its form.

"Socio-economic prejudice runs both ways..."

I see what you are trying to see. But let us remember, there is a hierarchy in society.
The rich overpower the poor. Do the poor overpower the rich. The answer is:

NO

So not everything runs both ways. Think about it. That's why we have the rich running this corrupted country and other places. The rich just want to benefit the rich and that is why we still have poor people.

There was no attack about Dowd being rich according to the comments. It appears that the individual was upset because Dowd does not seek the help benefit the people that truly need service.
Dowd's wealth should not be perhaps use for fun purposes. As a leader, he should set an example through humility. Great leaders have led through humility and maybe that is what Dowd needs to do.
He has a leadership role, now he has to prove himself as a leader.

If he does indeed prove his humility, his leadership will touch other Hoyas and bring awareness about the real world. We will have more Hoyas helping the needy and less people having getting drunk in Cancun.

how can there have been a decertification of the previous election when there were more missing senators than senators there voting to decertify the results. another point that GUSA is irrelevant because our wonderful senators dont even show up to meetings

It really didn't take another election to realize that GUSA is completely irrelevant.

Students: we need to create our own student union, so that we can fight for what we want on our own. These fools don't care about you.

The only time this university administration EVER does anything meaningful is when students bust down their doors to get it.

GUSA just makes nice promises and asks nicely. And, when Todd Olsen inevitably says no, they just hang around or form a pointless committee until the next crop comes blowing in.

That's it.

To "j" -

There were not "more missing senators than senators there voting to decertify the results." that is just plain wrong.

The senate had a quorum, which is what is needed to have a vote. check your facts.

"Outcome" and Ann,

You're crazy. First of all if you want to talk about "rich" -- have you met DW and Andrew Rugg? They walked around campaigning in three-piece suits while Dowd and Kelly used pictures of themselves in t-shirts as their main campaign photos. Oh, Pat Dowd wore a collared shirt in his Facebook album about his trip to India, how horrible! Who was it who wore a three-piece suit walking around all the Freshman dorms? And Andrew Rugg is the president of the Philodemic, Georgetown's 180-year plus, all-white, super-up-tight debating society: how much more JOE HOYA can you get?

Perhaps the most frustrating and quite honestly depressing thing is that people are assuming that DW cares about diversity because he's black (African African, not African-American by the way). People assume that he's poor and "for the poor" because he's black.

Quite frankly THAT is racist, especially with 0 evidence.

I paid pretty decent attention to this campaign and I never heard DW talk about race or socioeconomic issues. His running mate is a huge Republican for God's sake (to throw another stereotype out there).

The places I DID hear people talking about race and socioeconomic justice???

DOWD: The central plank of his platform is free need-based summer housing for students who want to do unpaid summer internships, so not only the rich can afford to stay at Georgetown to work for their congressman. I have to say, this is one of the most thoughtful campaign ideas I've heard about in a long time.

WILLIAMS/KESTEN: They have been involved with these issues for years through the Male Development Association (Kyle) and the Student Commission for Unity (Brian), which Brian founded and runs and from everything I hear has been doing some very serious research.

Read the Hoya's endorsement: they cited the Dowd and Williams tickets as the ones who cared about big-picture things like racism, homophobia and self-segregation and had real ideas to tackle them. Being non-white doesn't make you automatically a better choice to get rid of race problems at Georgetown -- just look at former GUSA execs like Salik, Pravin, and Luis Torres, who was both gay and Hispanic.

The fact that everyone is assuming that DW would care about these issues, that he's poor, that he's a champion of civil rights, just because he's black is RACIST. It's God-freakin-damn-hypocritically RACIST. Especially when there's absolutely zero evidence in any of his campaign materials to support that, and everything to suggest the other way. People are seeing what they want to see, blaming others for any reason they can think of just because their candidate lost. I didn't vote for Pat, but if he can get his main plank done then he's already done more diversity at this school than DW would've done by getting elected, and will hopefully do enough to counteract the destructiveness of all this crazy "Georgetown is racist" bs.

Jesus Christ get a clue! All of these crazy people are seriously depressing me about the quality of student at Georgetown.

"Not surprised",

One correction: The Student Body Pres and VP do NOT get "free and preferential housing" or "course credit." The president, and the president only, gets free housing for the summer only, and that is because s/he is required to stay at Georgetown over the summer and work on GUSA issues. S/he certainly does not get preferential housing for the summer or any other period -- that is 100% untrue. No member of GUSA gets free housing during the academic year, nor do they get any preference in the housing selection. At all.

The Pres and VP also do not get any course credit. At all.

Soooo.... you're wrong. I'd be interested to know where you get your facts. Believe me, we wish members of GUSA got those kinds of perks. At most schools, SBP and VPs get not only free housing and stipends, but also free tuition and a free meal plan. The "perks" of being in GUSA at this school are access to an office (with a desk! and a huge, awkward window that looks out over Sellinger) and getting constant streams of hate mail from conspiracy theorists that, if nothing else, are good for a laugh.

http://www.thehoya.com/node/5010

And I am african american and proud thank you very much ;-)