Campbell wins in landslide victory

For David Campbell, once wasn’t enough. After running for the second year in a row, Campbell was named the new president-elect of the MSU on Jan. 31.

Campbell, who graduated from Arts & Science last year, is the current VP (Administration) of the Students Union. He ran for president in the 2012 election, ultimately placing second to Siobhan Stewart by a margin of 47 votes.

While some of the other six candidates in this year’s election ran on platforms of broader, more ambitious reform, Campbell focused on smaller details, such as adding more outlets and seating in MUSC and extending library hours.

“There are a lot of simple things we can do, for which the money is readily available,” he said.

“I think my platform shows that I have a much greater understanding of what can be done, what should be done, and what’s feasible,” he told the Silhouette during the election.

And it’s clear that voters identified with his vision. Campbell won the election in the first round of voting, earning first choice on 53 per cent of the nearly 6000 votes cast.

While his landslide victory may have come as a surprise to some given the field of seven candidates, a first-round win is not unheard of. Over the past 40 years, there have been seven first-ballot victories, of which Campbell’s win marked the second-narrowest winning margin.

The most recent first-ballot victory was in a two-person race in 1996.

Although his term as president doesn’t start until May 1, Campbell is already planning ahead.

“Siobhan [Stewart] and I will be sitting down at dinner soon and talking about respective goals,” he said when asked about his transition with the current MSU president.

Campbell explained his intention to start working on some of his platform points even before his term begins.

“I’ve added library hours and MAPS fees as my first to-dos,” he said. “Those are two things I hope to see change before I take office. Besides that, other things are more targets to have in place before next fall.”

He also hopes to incorporate the negotiation of a 12-month bus pass into his agenda for the year. Third-place candidate James Dowdall had proposed the idea during the campaign.

“I’m excited to take the job because I’ve started to develop a historical vision of the MSU,” Campbell explained. “That’s helped me have a more refined vision of what I’d like to see next year.”

Campbell is one of nine VPs in the last 13 years to run in MSU presidential elections and win the top office. Vishal Tiwari, a former VP (Education), won in 2009, after eight consecutive years of VPs becoming president from 2001 to 2007.