CMM takes a step forward

At 3:03 a.m., AMS President James Macmillan walked into a packed house on Johnson Street, eliciting loud cheers from the kitchen.

Screams grew louder as Macmillan made his way to the back where the candidates were sitting.

“I’m looking for AMS President Kingsley Chak,” he called out.

After almost five hours of ballot-counting, Team CMM emerged victorious with 2,162 votes, or 52.02 per cent of the vote. Team TPC trailed behind with 38.14 per cent, or 1,585 votes.

409 ballots, or 9.84 per cent, were spoiled.

There was a total of 4,156 ballots cast, for an overall voter turnout of 31 per cent.

Chak spoke to the crowd after the three candidates took a shot of 12-year-old Scotch and lit their cigars, an AMS tradition. “It’s been a long journey even though it’s only been a week and a half. We will do a good job next year. We won’t disappoint you guys.”

With three words, Chak described how he felt when Macmillan walked through the doors.

“Ridiculously amazing and hyper,” he said. “I know it was a close race but knowing we won by more than 50 per cent … we did the right thing.”

“The job started today, right now,” he said. “The is going to hold us accountable.”

Mitchell said she’s excited for what the job will bring. “We’re going to the job fair tomorrow … to get people that we want to hire next year. We need to get that out there,” she said. “We want to hire anybody and anyone who’s passionate about the issues. We need diversity in our applicants.”

Manning agreed.

“I’m pretty damn excited,” the VP (operations)-elect said after learning of his team’s victory.

He said his first goal as part of the AMS executive team would be to encourage involvement within the AMS. “I want to inspire students to want to work for the AMS next year,” he said.

Meanwhile, as Team TPC waited for the results at a house on Aberdeen Street, the room was quiet and the mood calm.

When Presidential candidate Alvin Tedjo received the call from Chief Electoral Officer Adam Rose, he was surrounded by volunteers and his running mates.

Team TPC--Tedjo, VP (University Affairs) candidate Liz Craig and VP (Operations) candidate John Paterson--was disappointed, Tedjo said, as the team and volunteers then walked over to Manning’s house to congratulate the newly elected AMS winners.

“We feel it was a good campaign on both sides, we discussed issues that were important to both of us and to all students,” Tedjo said.

Tedjo said he thinks CMM won because of their message’s simplicity.

“I think they had a fairly simple and straightforward message,” he said. “They took a page out of [Liberal leader] Stéphane Dion. The colour green, three things, and they pushed it all the way through. Every class talk, every debate, every interview--they had the same message all the time.”

Tedjo said if he could change anything, it would be to organize earlier on in the campaign period. He said by not being organized, his team started at a disadvantage.

“I wish we had more time,” Tedjo said. “I think if anybody wants to seriously consider running for the AMS they need to get their team together before the break because there are too many things to do that can’t be done during the nomination period. You need to get organized, and it’s all about getting organized, you need to develop your message, develop your platform, and that needs to be done before the school break.”

“We felt like we were playing catch up the whole time. We never felt we were ahead, we always felt we were trying to make ourselves stand out.”

Macmillan said he was surprised the vote wasn’t closer.

“We were thinking it’d be a little closer,” he said. “I was thrilled with both the teams that ran. We’re lucky to have leaders like them.”

He said the team will receive a lot of advice over the next few months.

“The hardest part of the job is hiring. The AMS takes more than three people. The most important thing is getting that right. I know they’ll be up for it,” he said.

CMM expected to hear from the electoral office by 1 a.m., and as Chak waited anxiously by the kitchen at 1:30 a.m., he said he was “cautiously optimistic.”

“I keep checking my watch,” Chak said. “I’m nervous, I’m not going to lie. I want the results right now!”

Julia Mitchell has a presentation at 8:30 a.m. today, but she said she’ll be alright.

“I’m kind of sick of waiting. I didn’t realize how long this process was,” she said.

“I was like ‘Mom and Dad, I’ll call you at 1:30.’ ”

At about 2:30 a.m., Chak gathered his teammates at the door.

“Either we get the phone call together or we see James together,” he said.