Ben Eckstein and Katie Taylor were elected ASUO president and vice president for 2011-2012, the ASUO announced Thursday evening.
Eckstein and Taylor won 52.4 percent of the votes for ASUO executive, constituting an absolute majority and eliminating the need for a general election.
Candidates on the “Ben and Katie” slate won a high majority of the Senate seat races. Only Senate Seat 13, which represents business administration students, remains undecided, so only business students will be voting in the final general election next week.
The six ballot measures all carried, including four advisory votes concerning students’ opinions about Oregon Student Public Interest Research Group, the EMU Post Office, the status of the University’s Department of Public Safety and the New Partnership. Two ballot measures made changes to the ASUO Constitution, concerning the cap for major programs’ budgets and the restrictions on hiring a freshman Senate representative.
Eckstein said the passing of all ballot measures was a positive sign for his status as president because a major part of the “Ben and Katie” campaign involved encouraging students to vote “yes” on all ballot measures.
“I think the fact that the ballot measures passed (showed) exactly what students wanted,” Eckstein said.
The president-elect said he has had a positive friendship with his opponent, Sinjin Carey. Both are members of the 2010-11 ASUO executive staff with President Amelie Rousseau.
“Sinjin and I are good friends; I hope that will continue,” Eckstein said. “I have a lot of respect for him. He’s a great guy and I wish him the best.”
Carey said he will continue to work toward serving students in some capacity next year. Before the vote was announced, he confirmed he would continue structuring Orgsync, the online application for University programs he has championed, until it is implemented next year.
“I just want to say first, I’m very proud of the Students United team,” Carey said. “I was really surprised by all the support that came out.”
Carey also had a positive impression about the way his slate ran.
“And I’m really proud we (ran it) without abrasive campaign tactics, mass emails or dorm-storming,” Carey said. “And if that’s what it takes to win, I don’t think Students United wanted it.”
The second-place candidate said he expected Eckstein to do well in office.
“I think Ben and Katie will do wonderful things in office and they will represent their constituents well,” Carey said.
For business majors, voting for Senate Seat 13 opens Monday morning at 9 a.m. and closes Thursday at 5 p.m.
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