As soon as supporters heard "Matt Wagner," the rest of the results were lost to cheers Wednesday night at Tubby's Sports Bar.

Media Credit: Joslyn Brown Reacting to the radio broadcast which stated they will move on to the elections, presidential candidate Matt Wagner and vice-presidential candidate Lydia Peele, show their enthusiasm at hearing the news. The duo won the primary election by just a few votes. Joslyn Brown/Collegian

Matt Wagner, student body presidential candidate (and Delta Sig Member), and Lydia

Peele, vice presidential candidate, won the primary elections, but it was close.

Wagner and Peele thanked the crowd members for supporting them and asked for their help in the coming week.

"With only 17 votes separating us from second place, we are going to have to push really, really hard," said Wagner, senior in information management systems.

"Tell your friends to vote," said Peele, junior in secondary education. "Get the word out."

Crowd members supported the pair before and after the results with cheers, including the K-S-U chant, mimicking the pair's slogan, "KSYou."

Wagner said he and Peele expected the race to be close, and they plan to campaign aggressively for the general elections.

"Seventeen is really close," Peele said. "I would consider us being at square one."

The two said their main goal is to show students they care, something they plan to start immediately.

"We are going to campaign this very evening," Wagner said.

Before the primary, Wagner and Peele spent $2,527.31, mainly on T-shirts, signs and chalk. Both said they probably will not spend much more.

"I don't think buying signs and more chalk will let students know we care about them," Peele said.

"We have funds to work with, but our interests need to be talking to students, getting their feedback," Wagner said.

Wagner and Peele are running on a three-pillar platform: academic accountability, study-abroad fee elimination and a financial planning center.

Academic accountability has two parts. The first would require professors to submit textbook orders the semester before to allow students a chance to search for the best price. The second is to put a more structured policy in place for dead week, the week before finals.

The second pillar would take away the study-abroad application fee. This would ensure students don't lose $50 before knowing whether they are eligible to study abroad, Peele said.

The financial planning center would be a free service to help students with their budgets. Students could learn more about credit cards, taxes and other financial issues through the center.

Wagner said the pair's platform issues will remain the same, but they might adjust the terms to fit students' needs depending on the feedback the pair receives this week.

"I don't think we'll necessarily change our platform but redefine it to be in line with student interests, going more indepth," he said.

Peele said the time and effort the campaign put into reaching out to students helped them win the primaries.

"So far, we've had tremendous support," Wagner said.