Taylor Carr almost knew his evening would end in tears, and he was prepared to wait out for the worst.

‘Honestly, we are bracing for a blowout and not in the good way,’ Carr said before the votes were reported. ‘Forty percent of the people who have voted are sophomores and that’s a large percentage and demographic to overcome, so we are bracing for the worst and we’ll all just wait and see.’

Carr waited in an armchair in his living room on Ackerman Avenue for more than an hour — BlackBerry in hand — until the numbers officially came out, which revealed the results of the Student Association presidential race.

Carr garnered 972 votes, while his opponent, Dylan Lustig, received 2,167 votes in a record-breaking election for SA. The percentage of students who voted came in 26.1 percent, according to an email sent by PJ Alampi, chair of the Board of Elections and Membership Committee.

Carr’s group of supporters, a core of five students who had not yet left for Fall Break, expressed surprise after the phone call from Alampi came in early Friday morning. A few minutes after the call came in, Carr’s supporters embraced him in a hug. Nick Deyo, a senior television, radio and film major, expressed his pride in Carr after the results came in.

‘Both candidates ran a great campaign and, unfortunately, it took the shape of what politics are, and it’s unfortunate that who I believe the better candidate is, is not filling that position,’ he said. ‘Taylor Carr will do great things.’

After the votes came in, Carr’s first reaction was to call Lustig and congratulate him. The two played phone tag for a few minutes before finally connecting. Carr congratulated Lustig and the two discussed possible plans for the future for about two minutes before hanging up and returning to their respective parties.

Carr’s second action, while waiting to connect with Lustig on the phone, was to check on the University College referendum. The referendum would allow part-time students in University College to have a seat in the assembly. The vote passed. The referendum was a big part of Carr’s work for the past two years.

‘It’s good, it’s a great step toward ensuring that part-time students have a voice on campus and that we’re taking their thoughts into consideration,’ he said. ‘It’s a long time coming but it’s a good thing it’s finally happened.’

After checking in on the referendum, Carr left the living room of his Ackerman home for a few minutes. When he came back, his face was streaked with tears. He gave an emotional speech to those gathered in the room.

‘I don’t think I realized how emotionally invested I was,’ he said. ‘I think I had my little breakdown because, I’ve said this to other people and I always say it, I’ve realized there are very few other things in my life that I love more than SA.’

Carr is unsure of how he will proceed from here on out.

He said: ‘Either way, I’ve said it the first day I’ve declared and I’ve said it up to this point, I’ve done everything I’ve done because I have a passion for creating change and a passion for making a difference.’

medelane@syr.edu

Published on November 17, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Contact Meghin: medelane@syr.edu | @meghinwithani