By Jordan Press
Dave MacLean didn’t even see the numbers on the board.
Huddled with his three running mates, MacLean buried his head until the roar of the crowd forced him to look up and see that Ryerson had voted him the next RyeSAC president.
MacLean narrowly defeated current RyeSAC Vice President Education Carlos Flores 824 to 791 — a difference of only 33 votes.
“Ryerson, the Blue and Gold, won something,” MacLean said right after seeing the results.
Joining him on next year’s executive will be his running mates Derek Isber and Cristina Riberiro, and Flores supporter Rebecca Rose.
As Chief Returning Officer, Erica Shallow started writing the results on the white board, everyone in the Ram in the Rye crowded the dance floor to view the numbers.
MacLean and his slate huddled together and chanted their campaign slogan, “Build, build, build.” Their opponents were scattered throughout the crowd.
Flores beat or came close to Maclean at every polling station except one — the business building. There, MacLean got 218 votes while his opponent collected 67.
“I’m a commerce major,” MacLean said. “Commerce students won this for me.”
Flores, who was happy the campaigning had come to a close, criticized MacLean, saying his opponent was all talk and short on action.
“I’m pretty sure Mr. MacLean isn’t involved [enough],” Flores said. “I truly believe it.
“[MacLean] was never committed to the work we did … except parties.”
MacLean responded to Flores’ statement by saying, “I’m a doer, not a talker.”
The one position the Flores camp won was vice president education. Rose defeated Dani Marino by a vote of 856 to 723.
Rose said she is concerned about being outnumbered on next year’s executive.
“I’m totally worried about being the outsider,” Rose said. “I’m the only progressive candidate in a conservative office.
“I’m going to bite my lip. I’m going to totally bite my tongue. As long as they let me speak, if we can compromise, we’ll be good.”
Isber, who played the role of the outsider on this year’s RyeSAC executive, beat Nick Gauthier to claim the post of vice president finance and services. Like MacLean, Isber won the support of business students but also pulled out a huge victory from the Rogers Communication Centre station.
“Rogers was key,” Isber said. “The numbers from Rogers really surprised me.”
Gauthier, who blasted his opponent at the candidates’ debate and said Isber was “talking out of his ass,” castigated Isber and MacLean, and warned they hadn’t seen the last of him.
“What I told Dave MacLean today, I told him that I would be behind him — one step behind him — every day of next year, make sure he works for all students, not just business students,” he said. “I’m going to make sure that Dave gets off his ass, you mark my words.”
Gauthier alleged someone had been tearing down his posters and that it helped cause his 74 vote defeat and his slate’s overall loss.
“It was close everywhere,” he said. “Maybe if my posters didn’t get ripped down, maybe if we did a bit more, but we did what we could do. We didn’t win the popularity contest.”
The contest of vice president student life had the biggest margin of victory, as Ribeiro defeated Nora Loreto by 228 votes. Loreto ran out of the Ram in the Rye crying after the results were announced.
RyeSAC President Ken Marciniec couldn’t make the wrap-up party because he had to work. He said MacLean hadn’t won his support, especially after last year when MacLean was “willing to make stuff up to try to get elected.”
Marciniec did say that he would help MacLean’s transition into RyeSAC.
“Whatever assistance he needs — not that he’ll be totally interested in what I have to say — I’ll be glad to provide,” he said.
– With files from Jen Gerson
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