Raynor wins in landslide

Photos from election night

Flanked by the large entourage that helped propel her to victory" J.J. Raynor emerged Tuesday night with a resounding victory in the student body president race" garnering 52 percent of the vote.Raynor beat out fellow candidates Kristin Hill and Logan Liles. They earned 22 percent and 26 percent of the vote"" respectively. A candidate must receive a majority of votes to avoid a runoff election.

""Wow" I'm just so proud of everyone. You guys are so awesome Raynor told the mob of staffers embracing her just after the winners were announced.

I would never have expected this" she said. I'm an athlete. One of my superstitions is you always have to think you're losing ... or you won't fight hard enough.""

Raynor said it was difficult for her team to gauge students' reactions to their messages during the campaign but explained her victory" saying" ""I think at the end of the day"" hard work speaks for itself.""

Amid evening plans of partying and submitting financial statements" Raynor - who will take office April 1 - celebrated her victory but also started to focus on the more distant future.

Within minutes of the announcement she had formed plans for a meeting with current Student Body President Eve Carson and said she plans to work with the two other candidates to implement parts of their platforms.

She also said she wants to work with the other officials elected Tuesday night including Carolina Athletic Association President-elect Andrew Coonin and future senior class officers James Shelly and Pinar Gurel.

After she assembles her administration" Raynor said her first goal in office will be to get involved in the process of selecting and working with the new chancellor.

""I want to get my hands into the chancellor process"" she said. The first voice he listens to should be ours.""

Her other major platform points include creating a greater sense of community for students and holding professors accountable for their teaching.

The results of the election are pending review of the financial statements of all candidates by the elections board.

The campaign season ran smoothly this year with few violations by the candidates" save a $3 fine levied on Hill for improperly formatted A-frames.

Liles said that he was disappointed with the results but that he plans to work with Raynor's administration to achieve some of his own platform goals" though he said ""things are up in the air"" as far as exactly what he will do next year.

""We're going to give J.J. all the support we can"" Liles said.

He said he would like to see the complete audit of student fees and revisions to the fee creation process, as well as the creation of an advisory committee to the Board of Trustees and the push for a Styrofoam-free campus.

Obviously there were a thousand things we wished we'd done" but it all works out" Liles said.

We showed what it's like to run a campaign that's focused on students.""

Hill said she probably won't get involved in student government next year but plans to use her newfound free time to organize a trip to Africa during the summer.

""I wasn't expecting anything"" Hill said. I had some of the best people. We had a lot of fun while we were doing it. I have no regrets.""

Staff writers Brian Austin and David Gilmore contributed reporting.

Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.

Student body president:

J.J. Raynor3"267 votes52 percentWINNER

Logan Liles1601 votes26 percent

Kristin Hill1403 votes22 percent