USC elects Luke Rankin as next student body president, Sophie Davish to be VP

University of South Carolina voters have spoken: Luke Rankin is set to be the next student body president.

Rankin, a junior political science major, defeated junior sports and entertainment major Lyric Swinton in a runoff election that ended Wednesday.

“I was ecstatic. It’s still very, very surreal,” Rankin said of when he learned he had won. “I’m so honored to have won and can’t wait to get to work.”

USC’s student body president is in an especially important position this year, current student body president Taylor Wright said in a previous interview. That’s because the student body president gets to set the tone between the students and the incoming president and provost.

Current USC president Harris Pastides is retiring at the end of July and Provost Joan Gabel was chosen to be president of the University of Minnesota.

In the runoff, Rankin got 3,852 votes, or 53 percent of the vote, and Swinton got the remaining votes, elections commissioner Kathryn Stoudemire said. The presidential election went to a runoff because no presidential candidate received more than 50 percent of the vote, Stoudemire said.

More people voted in this year’s elections than last year. Last year, the general election and runoff drew 12,978 votes. This year, 14,843 students cast votes in both the general and primary elections, Stoudemire said.

As a candidate, Rankin, who was born in Conway and raised in Myrtle Beach, laid a proposal for his presidency including a 9/11 memorial event at Williams-Brice Stadium to raise money for student veterans, and expanding student government’s mental health awareness program Stigma Free USC to the rest of the state by partnering with other colleges.

Sophie Davish, a junior finance major, was elected as student body vice president over three other contenders.

Davish plans to emphasize sustainability, mental health, diversity and student life.

“At the end of the day this should be your home for the four years, or however long you’re here,” Davish said.

Though Davish and Rankin ran on separate tickets (USC student government candidates don’t run as Republicans or Democrats), they have a lot in common.

Both Davish and Rankin have some sort of political experience, both in student government in S.C. state government. Davish is the chief of staff to the student body vice president and a former intern for S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster. Rankin is the secretary for public outreach for student government and is the son of a S.C. state senator with whom he shares a name. Davish and Rankin both are involved in in Greek life. Davish is a member of Zeta Tau Alpha and Rankin is a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon.

Davish said she and Rankin have been “good friends” for several years and that “he has such a great vision for the university.”

This story was originally published March 7, 2019 at 2:42 PM.