Mattingly, Clower win other opposed SGA slots
Lack of competition in the higher positions caused voter turn-out to decrease this year compared to last, some say.
By Emily Turner
Skiff Reporter

Andrea Reed and Katie Gordon will compete in a run-off election for vice president of the House of Student Representatives after neither candidate received more than 50 percent of the vote Tuesday.

Reed received 461 votes, or approximately 38 percent of the ballots cast. Gordon garnered 382 votes, or 32 percent.

Students also rejected a Student Government Association student fee increase by a 16 percent margin. The referendum received a 42 percent approval while 58 percent of students voted against it. It needed two-thirds approval to pass.

In other races, Brad Thompson was elected SGA President, CiAnn Ardoin won the vice president of Programming Council, Chris Mattingly was elected SGA treasurer and Todd Clower was elected SGA secretary.

Voter turn-out for the Student Government Association election decreased this year overall with 1,123 ballots compared to 1,758 last year.

John Billingsley, the current vice president of House and a senior accounting major, said the voter decrease can be attributed to the lack of competition in the higher offices such as president.

Reed and Gordon, who happen to be roommates, said their other roommate answered the phone as the two sat together and waited to hear if either of them had won vice president of House. Reed, a senior business management and social work major, said Gordon was the first to speak to the election board.

“I could tell the results by the look on her face,” Reed said. “I knew there was going to be a run-off.”

The run-off election between the two candidates will not be scheduled until later today, said Nick James, elections and regulations chairman.

“We will need to talk to the folks in Information Services (today) and then we will make a decision,” said James, a sophomore political science major.

The other two House vice president candidates both won less than 20 percent of the vote. Junior broadcast journalism major Bill Morrison received 221 votes, or 18 percent, and sophomore religion major Rodney Thomas received 130 votes, or 11 percent.

Brad Thompson, the lone candidate for SGA president, was elected with an 87 percent majority. There were 13 percent write-in votes for other candidates.

“I was surprised by the large number of write-in votes,” Thompson, a junior radio-TV-film major, said. “I wasn’t discouraged because it is a big job and people have every right to vote for someone who they think would get the job done.”

Thompson said he wants to start immediately preparing for his upcoming term.

“I want to get as much feedback as possible before we start in January,” Thompson said.

CiAnn Ardoin, a junior radio-TV-film and sociology major, received 96 percent of the votes for vice president of Programming Council. Ardoin was the only candidate running for this position.

Chris Mattingly, a junior international accounting and finance major, won his first SGA election as treasurer with 599 votes. His opponent, Katrina Shutt, a sophomore marketing and finance major, received 479 votes.

Mattingly said Shutt was also qualified for the position, but he said he had more SGA experience.

“I thought I was most qualified for the position, but that was up to the student body to decide,” Mattingly said.

Clower won by 52 votes in the race for treasurer, the closest contest in the election.

Clower received 591 votes. Feleceia Benton, a sophomore musical theater and advertising/public relations major, received 539 votes.

Clower, a junior advertising/public relations major, said he was surprised to hear of the close race.

“I had a lot of signs and speaking tours,” Clower said. “I didn’t see a lot of signs for her, but I knew she had a lot of friends.”

e.l.turner@tcu.edu