It’s finally here, the USSF Presidential election. While it is usually an uncontested quiet vote, this year it has eight candidates and has produced some fireworks. Two main candidates, Kathy Carter and Carlos Cordeiro, are considered establishment and very similar to Sunil Gulati. The remaining six are banding together, in some format, to ensure someone else wins.
US Soccer’s National Council Annual General Meeting starts at 5am Pacific and is streamed on the USSoccer YouTube Channel. The stream will be embedded when it goes live. It is expected the election portion will start around 6:30 Pacific.
The General Meeting begins with the eight candidates giving a speech. From there voting occurs in rounds until there is a simple majority. If no one wins, there is a ten minute break for candidates to try and gather support from the different voting groups and earn more votes. There is no removal of candidates for failing to reach X support in any round, though a candidate can withdraw. This system is similar to the one used in the Italian Federation’s Presidential election that failed to provide a winner.
U.S. Soccer Presidential candidates drew numbers to determine order of speaking to National Council and order on the ballot:
— U.S. Soccer (@ussoccer) February 9, 2018
1️⃣ @PaulCaligiuri20
2️⃣ @stevegans2018
3️⃣ @WinogradUSSF
4️⃣ @soccerkcarter
5️⃣ @kylemartino
6️⃣ @EricWynalda
7️⃣ @hopesolo
8️⃣ @CACSoccer pic.twitter.com/h2oiq73y6R
The NWSL and MLS have both announced they’ll vote for SUM’s Kathy Carter, which gives her 19.3% of the vote. It is likely that the USL will also vote for Carter, making it 24.1% of the vote. The NASL is supporting Eric Wynalda with their 1.6% of the vote. Wynalda is also rumored to have support of some of the state organizations (states have both youth and adult orgs), but it is unclear if that is holding as few of them have announced their vote yet.
The Athlete Council has traditionally voted as a bloc but they’ve been unable to reach a consensus and could split their vote. The vote makes up 20% of the vote, so if they choose to go with Kathy Carter it will make it likely she wins.
With the votes that are known currently, I wouldn’t expect people to change their vote between their announcement and voting at the meeting, it is possible Carter wins on the first ballot. If she doesn’t, we could be in for a very long election as “change” candidates try to find a compromise and get their supporters behind a different candidate. I personally see Kyle Martino as a that potential dark horse if the change vote is splintered and no one has 50% since he is less-polarizing than Wynalda and Hope Solo and more well-known to the non-professional voting blocs than some of the other candidates.
Join us and watch the Annual General Meeting and learn who will be the newest USSF President.
Candidate List
Paul Caligiuri -Former player, USSF Director, and Athlete council member.
Kathy Carter - President of SUM (on-leave currently)
Carlos Cordeiro - USSF Vice-President
Steve Gans - Sports and employment law attorney from Boston, MA
Kyle Martino - Former player and broadcaster
Hope Solo - Former player, including with the Seattle Reign FC
Michael Winograd - Corporate attorney, former coach and player
Eric Wynalda - Former player, analyst, and coach
How I’m Watching
Shirt: Sounders sweatshirt
Scarf: Whichever is closest to me when I roll out of bed
Where: My couch on my computer, with Premier League on mute on my TV.