Student Trustee Beau Flores has been elected by the Colorado Mesa University student body as the next Associated Student Government president, making him the first Hawaiian to hold the office.
“I think their [Flores and Vela’s] experience brings a lot to the table, with what they do on campus and their time in ASG as well. I think it’s going to really benefit them going through the biennial process,” current ASG President Ben Linzey said.
Flores and Jeff Vela — the vice president-elect — won over challengers Nicole Troester and Donovan Harwell by a margin of 94 votes.
The final vote count was 495 votes for Flores/Vela and 401 for Troester/Harwell. The percentage of votes was 55.25 percent to 44.75 percent.
Officials said the gap widened between the two on the last day of elections.
Flores previously served as the president of Ho’olokahi Polynesian Alliance and Vela as a senator.
“We are really pleased and honored to represent the students next year,” Vela said. Vela said their first steps will be building their executive cabinet for the upcoming year, and meeting with future Editor in Chief of The Criterion Chris DeLeon to “help increase the transparency aspect of [the] organization.”
901 students voted in this election, about 9 percent of the student body, surpassing the two-year slope of student turnout. In 2017, 784 students voted, in 2016, 820.
It did not beat 2015’s record of 1,100 votes, however.
“I would say OrgSync definitely hindered the number of people coming to vote,” current ASG President Ben Linzey said. “Accessibility was a challenge.”
During the six-week campaigning period, the Flores-Vela campaign spent $486.01 on campaigning supplies and events, while the Troester-Harwell campaign spent $382.61.
Amara Hobbs, the current social and behavioral science senator defeated Pua Utu by a margin of 143 votes, the current chief justice of the ASG Supreme Court for the office of student trustee.
The final percentage of the two was 58.36 percent for Hobbs, 41.64 percent for Utu.
The Hobbs campaign spent $109.29 on her campaign, while the Utu campaign did not spend at all.
The proposed constitutional changes also passed during the three-day election.
The proposed constitutional changes also passed during the three-day election. 83 percent of the 802 students who voted on the constitutional amendments were in favor of the change.
The second t-shirt design won with 51.58 percent of the vote — 457 students voted for it. Design three earned 220 votes and design one earned 209 votes.
Senate Results
Dillon Paningsoro won the office of campus resident senator unopposed by 803 votes.
Daniel Powell won the office of computer science, mathematics and statistics senator unopposed by 792 votes.
Faith Wood defeated Arie Wick for the office of freshman senator by 484 votes. Wick earned 187 votes (22.58 percent) while Wood earned 641 votes (77.42 percent).
Kaleia San Miguel and Catherine Brodie won the office of health sciences senator unopposed by 634 votes and 523 votes.
Celeste Martinez defeated Jaqueline Halm for the office of language, literature and mass communication senator by 158 votes. Martinez earned 485 votes (59.73 percent) while Halm earned 327 votes (40.27 percent).
Aaron Reed overwhelmingly defeated Mikayla Brewer for the office of minority student senator by 465 votes. Reed earned 650 votes (77.84 percent) while Brewer earned 185 votes (22.16 percent).
Erica Pacheco and Brittany Dixon won the two senatorial seats for social and behavioral sciences senator against challenger Ramiro Vasquez. Pacheco garnered 537 votes (65 percent) while Dixon had 354 (42 percent).
Colton Rupple and Jay Shearrow won the two senatorial seats for at-large senator against challenger Michael Ritter. Rupple won 544 votes (67 percent) and Shearrow won 377 (46 percent).
Alexandra Wagner won the seat of theater senator unopposed, with 772 votes.
Lauren Mason won the seat of graduate students senator unopposed, with 784 votes.
Makayla Wilcox won the seat of biological sciences senator with 632 votes (78 percent) against challenger Joseph Rayas, who had 180 votes (22 percent).
Cole Sundermann won the seat of Western Community College Senator unopposed, with 785 votes.
Hector Salas won the seat of teacher education senator unopposed, with 787 votes.
Shelby Cerise won the seat of physical and environmental sciences senator with 525 votes (65 percent) over challenger Abraham Selenke, who had 288 votes (35 percent).
Haley Wiedeman and Salina Edwards won the two senatorial seats for kinesiology senator over challenger Danielle Beacham-Herrera. Wiedeman won 456 votes (57 percent) and Edwards won 413 votes (52 percent).
Susannah LaBonde won the seat of art and design senator unopposed, with 789 votes.
Jarrot Brown and Josiah Bohrer won the two senatorial seats for business senator over challenger John Nachtsheim. Brown garnered 498 votes (61 percent) while Bohrer won 392 (48 percent).
Adrianna Garcia won the seat of music senator unopposed, with 791 votes.
