Exuberant screams and chants of “Henry/Stoskopf” filled the Last Chance Next Door bar shortly after the student body president primary election results were announced Wednesday afternoon. By Scott Girard Kansas State Collegian
The presidential and vice presidential pair, Dalton Henry, senior in agricultural economics, and Wayne Stoskopf, junior in agribusiness, finished second in the primary with 1,249 votes, which accounted for almost 28 percent of the result.
“The only place is to move on up from here,” said Stoskopf shortly after the results were announced.
After rounds of embraces, Henry and Stoskopf, wearing their green campaign shirts, stood on the bar to thank their supporters and also to look forward to another week of campaigning.
“Now is going to be game time,” Stoskopf said. “We’ve got one more week.”
Before the results were announced, Henry and Stoskopf, both committee chairmen for Student Senate, said they were confident they were moving on to the general election. However, their constant movement and fidgeting minutes before the announcement exemplified the closeness of the race. The pair received just 207 more votes than the third place pair of Robert Swift and Amy Schultz.
Henry and Stoskopf said their platform was molded around ideas that could be accomplished within a year. They also said they would make sure to keep the slumping economy in mind while making improvements to the university. One of their main ideas was to create a program at the university to network students with alumni for possible internships or job opportunities.
“When you look at the job market right now, students are not just having a hard time finding internships but also jobs,” Henry said.
Henry is a member of Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity, and Stoskopf is a member of Delta Sigma Phi fraternity. They said their connections to the greek community helped them in the primaries but their focus is more campus-wide. All the candidates in the top-three pairs are members of the greek community.
Henry and Stoskopf started their campaign a month and a half ago, and they said they planned to get back to campaigning as soon as possible to make up the 322 votes that separated them from the first place pair, Andrew Huschka and Laura Rachelle White.
Henry said Huschka and White ran a very aggressive campaign, but Henry and Stoskopf respected them as fellow members of Student Senate. The winning pair spent more than any other candidates in the race.
After the results were announced, a tearful Swift and Schultz congratulated Henry and Stoskopf. Henry said the pairs were close after serving on leadership positions at Student Senate for several semesters.
Whether the pair wins the general election or not, Henry said the campaign has been a valuable and fun experience.
“Regardless of what happens, it’s been a blast,” he said.
The general election starts Tuesday and polls close at 6 p.m. on Wednesday.