ASUO election results were revealed Friday afternoon in the ASUO Office. The tension was palpable as candidates waited to find out who would be moving onto next week’s runoff election.
After everything was tallied, the vice presidential and presidential candidates from Katie and Alex and We are Oregon will move on in the general elections.
“We’ve got two strong, progressive candidates going on (to general elections) that both can be inspiring leaders on campus,” said ASUO Communications Director Andrew Rogers.
ASUO Sen. Laura Hinman and presidential candidate for We Are Oregon was happy to be moving onto the general elections.
“I am excited and honored to be moving onto the next phase of elections,” Hinman said.
ASUO Vice President and presidential candidate Katie Taylor was pleased with the results, but was ready to start on the next step.
“We’re really proud of our team and looking forward to next week,” she said.
Sen. Ben Bowman and Sen. Lamar Wise from Ben and Lamar will not be advancing to next week’s elections.
“I’m incredibly proud of my team,” Bowman said. “We knew we were the underdogs from the beginning but we brought in hundreds of student leaders. I would like to congratulate both Katie and Laura and am looking forward to next week.”
Hinman enjoyed running against Ben and Lamar.
“Ben ran an amazing campaign,” Hinman said. “It was admirable he ran as a sophomore.”
Taylor echoed Hinman’s statement, saying she wanted to thank everyone involved in the campaign, including Ben and Lamar.
“I am looking forward to working with them in the future,” Taylor said.
As for ballot measures, the EMU renovation was voted down, while the Student Recreation Center renovation passed. Former ASUO President Sam Dotters-Katz, who worked on the EMU campaign, was disappointed with the results.
“I believe the EMU vote went down because we failed to reach and educate enough students about the importance of this measure and I take personal responsibility for that,” he said.
ASUO President Ben Eckstein believed that the EMU renovation measure failed sent a message to the campus community.
“Students have spoken loud and clear twice now that they want a more affordable project and more student involvement,” he said. “I hope the administration will take notice of this.”
There were only two positions that won with 51 percent of the vote. Alexander Sacco, who ran with We Are Oregon, won Senate seat 13 and Jeff Ewing, running with Katie and Alex, won Senate seat 18.