Dan Rader spent the final 12 hours of campaign time trying to get his name out, although in a less than conventional manner. Rader is running for Columbia’s First Ward City council seat against six other candidates, and he used bright blue shirts, buses touting signs and a man in a gorilla suit with a megaphone to set himself apart.
He and his campaign seemed focused on MU’s campus, and specifically Greektown.
Early this afternoon, blue signs and campaigners in Dan Rader shirts covered the lawn of the Gamma Phi Beta sorority. However, their efforts were quickly shut down by the house mother.
Gamma Phi Beta, and all sororities and fraternities are nonprofits and 501 (c)(3) organization, which forbids political campaigning – either direct or indirectly. The campaigners identified themselves as associated with Dan Rader, not the sorority.
That didn’t keep Rader out of campus, though. He said he spent the morning campaigning in the area and his campaigners gathered students to bus them to the polls, using megaphones to spread their message to vote for Rader.
The campaign also had a man in a gorilla suit riding around campus in a golf cart proclaiming Rader support.
Rader has had a heavy presence in the student community throughout his campaign. According to the Columbia Daily Tribune, Rader’s campaign offered free beer for voter registrations at an event that drew many students.
Polls close Tuesday at 7 p.m., after which the results of the election and success of Rader’s tactics will become clear.
