Marcus Dudas, current USGD vice president of services, was unsuccessful in his bid to sway either candidate from Smith’s campaign.
Dudas met with both vice presidential candidates for Frank Smith III’s campaign during the past couple weeks, trying to get them to leave his ticket, one of the candidates said.
“I asked him why he was meeting with (Sally Lopez, vice president of policy candidate) and I, specifically, and he said that he was hoping that he could get a VP to maybe decide not to run with Frank,” said Corina Tapscott, candidate for vice president of services on Smith’s ticket.
Dudas said he was trying to tell the vice presidential candidates “the truth” about Smith, and that it “would be ideal” if a vice presidential candidate dropped off the ticket.
“I want them to know the entire story,” Dudas said. “I respect their stances. I respect their positions.”
Dudas and Smith have had a contentious relationship this year in USGD, with Dudas accusing Smith of taking credit for other people’s work, manipulation and creating an environment where people are unwilling to talk freely.
Dudas also met with at least three additional supporters of Smith’s campaign to discuss his experiences working with the president.
Lopez said her conversation with Dudas was uncomfortable.
“He actually sat down and talked with me and he was mentioning really negative things about Frank,” Lopez said. “And of course I’m running on his ticket and I’m supporting Frank, so what he was trying to do was to try to convert me to the other side.”
Dudas said he made it clear at the start of his conversations that he would be saying negative things about Smith.
“The reason behind it is, although I respect their stances, I’m not sure they were aware of everything that had been done during the year,” Dudas said.
Tapscott and Dudas both said their talk was polite.
“We had a long conversation. I tried to be as respectful as possible of his opinion,” Tapscott said.
Tapscott said Dudas shared his experiences and problems with Smith’s administration.
“He was letting me know past stories within USGD and stuff that had happened that had shown that Frank was just not good in the administration that he’s in now and not doing the job that he should be doing,” Tapscott said.
Lopez said Dudas talked to her about Smith’s involvement in the passage of the athletics fee bill last semester and how Smith went about convincing the Senate to vote for it.
Dudas said one of the biggest things he wanted to share with Lopez and Tapscott is that Smith had taken credit for tasks completed by different members of USGD.
Contact the reporter at alabril@asu.edu
