ASUS executive, president-elect Rico Garcia and vice-president elect Duncan Peterson were in a celebratory mood last night. The team gathered in Peterson’s Princess St. apartment with about 15 friends and co-workers, drinking in subdued anticipation for news confirming their win.

As people trickled in throughout the evening, many gave early wishes of congratulations to the pair, to which they responded ‘not yet.’

Following their unopposed campaign, Garcia-Peterson received an 84 per cent vote of confidence.

“84 is my new number,” Garcia, ArtSci ’13, said.

“We ran an extremely good campaign,” Peterson, ArtSci ’11, said. “We reached out to students with booths and class talks, and that’s reflected in our results.”

Garcia said he found involvement of professors an interesting part of campaigning.

“They really encourage student democracy,” he said.

Garcia and Peterson received the news of their win when current AMS executive Robyn Laing and Doug Johnson entered the room carrying ‘President’ brand champagne. On one bottle, ‘Vice-’ had been written in marker above the label, a gift for Peterson.

“I’m going to recline in my chair and play some solitaire,” Peterson said when asked of his first official action as vice-president.

Garcia said he plans to alter the plaques traditionally labeling executive offices in the ASUS Core.

“Mine will say Presidente and Duncan’s will say El Presidente,” Garcia said, adding that it’s an homage to his Mexican roots.

Peterson said he foresees only one challenge in working with Garcia next year.

“Rico sees a big picture sometimes but I tend to bring him back down to reality. He dreams big. It’s a great thing,” he said.

The pair said they are most looking forward to adding an international student representative to the ASUS Assembly, a fundamental part of their campaign platform.

Garcia, who currently runs a one and a half hour radio show on CFRC, said he would like to add a segment hosted by ASUS executives.

Johnson said he’s looking forward to seeing what Garcia and Peterson bring to ASUS next year.

“We couldn’t ask for better successors,” he said.

— With files from John Whittaker