The Associated Students Election Committee announced the final 2018-2019 Associated Students election results on Friday, April 13 at Round Table Pizza.
The EMPOWER slate swept the elections, with Kiara Gomez winning the AS President position over independent candidate Kevin Bologne, Daron Woods winning the VP Campus Affairs position over independent Nick Lin, and Caroline Siegel-Singh winning VP External Affairs. Other members of the EMPOWER slate include: Kenji Asakura, Emma Potter, and Daniela Salazar for Campus Wide Senators; Kelly Morris for Off-Campus Senator; Sabrena Callihan for Social Sciences Senator; and Johnny Echavarria for Arts and Humanities Senator.
“We have a lot of work to do,” said Siegel-Singh. “I think a lot of our executives are ready to focus on student basic needs, as well as other campus issues, and I think we have a slate that is ready to do it.”
Both the CALPIRG and Transportation Referendum passed with majority ‘Yes’ votes.
CALPIRG, a “student-directed, student-funded organization that does advocacy, education, grassroots organizing, and research for the public interest,” will continue collecting a voluntary student fee of $10 per student every quarter to support their projects and activities.
“I’m very thankful that the campus community has shown support for student activism on campus,” said Sophie Haddad, the CALPIRG Vice Chair and Referendum Coordinator. “After this, we will be launching a campaign to register more student voters for the June primaries and we will be continuing to advocate and gain support to make textbooks more affordable, as well as several other projects.”
The Student Transportation Referendum will increase the transportation fee from $52.24 to $63.80 and renews the U-Pass for undergraduate, graduate, and professional students. The pass allows for “unlimited ridership” throughout the academic year on “all mass transit bus, trolley, and light rail routes” of the Metropolitan Transit System and the North County Transit District. As a result, 29 percent of the fee will be awarded by the Financial Aid Office to students who require financial assistance, while the other 71 percent will pay off the Regional Transit Passes.
8,722 students participated in this year’s election, totaling 26.12 percent of the campus voter turnout. Marshall College had the highest voter turnout at 30.54 percent, followed by Warren at 27.78 percent and Muir at 27.76 percent.
President: Kiara Gomez
- Kiara Gomez (EMPOWER) – Elected
- Kevin Bologne (Independent)
Vice President Campus Affairs: Daron Kyle Woods
- Daron Kyle Woods (EMPOWER) – Elected
- Nick Lin (Independent)
Vice President External Affairs: Caroline Siegel-Singh
- Caroline Siegel-Singh (EMPOWER) – Elected
Campus-wide Senator (3 Senators): All 3 from Empower
- Kenji Asakura (EMPOWER) – Elected
- Emma Potter (EMPOWER) – Elected
- Daniela Salazar (EMPOWER) – Elected
Off-campus Senator: Kelly Morris
- Kelly Morris (EMPOWER) – Elected
Arts and Humanities Senator: Johnny Echavarria
- Johnny Echavarria (EMPOWER) – Elected
Social Sciences Senator: Sabrena Callihan
- Sabrena Callihan (EMPOWER) – Elected