Today, incumbent SMOB Eric Guerci and RM sophomore class president Alex Abrosimov advanced from the SMOB nominating convention to the general election. The following is a transcript of a conversation between online managing editor William Arnesen and print managing editor Trevor Lystad as to what voters should expect going into the general election.

Will: I would open by placing Eric as a prohibitive favorite. While I do not expect his electoral margin to mirror that of the convention—most conventioneers are SGA or MCR representatives with strong existing ties to the board—his higher name recognition, extensive media platform, campaigning experience, bountiful charisma and a record to point to give him a strong advantage coming out of the gate. It remains to be seen whether Alex, in all his rhetorical gifts, can overcome this built-in advantage.

Trevor: I certainly agree that Eric has a strong pre-existing advantage thanks to his incumbency, but I’m going to go against conventional wisdom and predict a narrow victory for Alex. While Eric is certainly a good speaker, Alex, a member of RM’s debate team, was quite impressive both on stage and even more so in person when talking to delegates and reporters. He displays an incredible depth of knowledge on the issues while still coming across as likable and relaxed. These rhetorical abilities, combined with his unusually strong record for an SGA executive and willingness to dismiss the Board’s unnecessary bureaucracy, have convinced me that Alex will pull off the upset come spring.

Will: I’m not so sure of that. Historically, we have seen a tendency for voters to go with what they know. Remember Alan Xie? Two terms and it wasn’t particularly close.

Trevor: Do voters really know Eric that well? I have my doubts—most of what they know comes from last year’s campaign, so once Alex starts campaigning at that level, I think voters will know him nearly as well.

Will: I doubt it. Even by the end, name recognition is pretty low for most candidates and Eric already has a big running start. Plus, he already has a big power base to run from: middle schools. He swamped Rachit last year in middle schools by nearly twenty points. If he can hold that base and expand it to some of the high schools—which I think his experience running last year will enable him to do—he should be able to pull this one off.

Trevor: I’m not so confident in the “base-plus” strategy (see: Ted Cruz). Additionally, it’s now on Eric to keep all those middle school voters. He beat Rachit by an incredibly narrow margin last year, and I definitely think Alex can inherit most of Rachit’s high school voters. The fact that Eric goes to B-CC will still hurt him heavily at rival schools like Whitman and Wootton (he lost them by nearly 50 points last year), and the food truck promise will definitely have appeal countywide. That said, we’re a long way out. We’ll be back closer to election time with more informed predictions.

Will: I’m not sure he will necessarily inherit those voters. Rachit had a sort of unique appeal—he got some raucous applause at today’s nominating convention [when he showed up as an election administrator]. That said, you’re right. We’re still a long way out, and a lot can change between now and April.