Suzanne Peluso and Michael Augello move on to the final elections for President of the Union on Thursday, taking the top two spots in Monday’s primary.
Candidate Eric Griffith, coming in behind Augello by fewer than 30 votes, will not appear on the final ballot.
“I think I was hurt most by having a late start,” Griffith said. “Going into the election, I thought my chances this year were the best out of the years that I have run.”
On Sunday, a small number of students turned out to see the three candidates in the primary debates in the McNeil Room. The candidates agreed in their opinions on most issues, though they had their own ideas about how to approach the Union’s challenges.
Though there was no primary for Grand Marshal this year, a primary election was held for the position of senator for the Class of 2006. At the discretion of the Rules and Elections Committee, primary elections are held for any position when there are more candidates than twice the number of available seats. Of the 11 freshmen that ran, only eight will remain on the ballot in the final election for the four senate seats.
Grand Marshal candidates Michael Borzumate and Harol Baez will join the PU candidates for the final debates today in the McNeil Room from 3 to 5 pm. Final elections will be held Thursday in the Commons, DCC, and Rensselaer Union. Results are scheduled to be announced on Friday at 8 pm in the McNeil Room.
Peluso led by just over 100 votes in the primary election. She and Augello now have only a short time to win over as many of Griffith’s supporters as they can before the final election.
“The race definitely isn’t over,” Peluso said. “There’s so much more campaigning to do. It’s a whole new race.”
