Friday night Feb. 4, Nick Gibson’s election as Wilfrid Laurier University Students’ Union president and CEO for 2011-12 was announced at Wilf’s pub. Gibson captured 41.5 per cent of the vote, topping runner-up Aeron Lawrence by nearly 20 per cent. In all, 5,135 students cast their ballots for the president position over the 36-hour election period.
“Ecstatic,” Gibson blurted out after emerging from a swarm of supporters. He thanked his campaign team and noted how impressed he was with the strong candidates in the presidential race this year. “Now it’s time to sit down and get things going,” he said, adding that the result was the culmination of the work put in since September.
He said that for him the countdown to the results was a mixed experience. “I’d get these surges of anxiety all day – there’s only so much you can do at that point and it’s up to the voters.” He expressed surprise at the sheer number of voters that participated in this year’s first-ever online election.
Asked what he thought set him apart and drew those voters, Gibson replied that his balanced approach – a point repeated over the course of his campaign – contributed to his victory. “I think frankly it was one of those things where in the past we’ve had candidates who, always with good intention, brought some of the flair, and candidates who brought substance,” he said. “I’m not trying to toot my own horn but I think that I brought both.”
“Especially given that [it was] an online campaign this year, I think I was able to get everyone’s interest and get them to know that the election was happening,” he continued, “and back it up with policy and platform I have that I’ve worked on for so long.”
Runner-up was Aeron Lawrence with 22.7 per cent of the vote, followed by Dan La Cute with 21.1 per cent and Matt Park with 14.6 per cent.
