2019 Election Results: AS is Set for a Fresh Start

Connor Gorry / The Triton

The Associated Students of UC San Diego Election Committee announced the final 2019-20 election results on Friday, April 12 at 6:30 p.m. in the Price Center Plaza. This year’s election had a total voter turnout of 17.52 percent.

This year, the positions for President, VP Campus Affairs, and VP External Affairs were uncontested, but every senate seat had multiple candidates running. FRESH START (FS) candidates Eleanor Grudin and Melina Reynoso won AS President and VP Campus Affairs, respectively. Independent candidate Tiger Huang won VP External Affairs.

“It’s been a lot of work in the running; I’m very happy and relieved that it’s all over,” AS President-elect Eleanor Grudin said. “Some of the things I want to work on is … starting to build more relationships with new executive members … so we can make our plans going forward as the new executive team.”

This year, there were many controversies surrounding Tritons United (TU) and their slate leader Joey Giltner. Giltner and two other candidates were removed from the ballot during spring break. Early spring quarter, TU faced several grievances for campaign finance violations and violations of the University Centers posting rules. After one such violation led to a statement of wrongdoing next to all TU candidates on the ballot, all of the remaining TU candidates separated from their slate, citing “irreconcilable differences” with Giltner. On Monday, TU—a slate with no candidates—was disqualified for repeated campaign finance violations.

The Marshall College referendum passed with 449 votes—22 percent of the vote. 56.4 percent cast a ballot but abstained. The Warren College referendum failed because it didn’t meet the 20 percent voting turnout threshold to pass. 43.63 percent of Warren students abstained from voting on their student fee referendum.

President: Eleanor Grudin

Eleanor Grudin (FRESH START) – Elected

Vice President Campus Affairs: Melina Reynoso

Melina Reynoso (FRESH START) – Elected

Vice President External Affairs: Tiger Huang

Tiger Huang (Independent) – Elected

Campus-wide Senators (5 elected): Kaitlyn Willoughby, David Hickman, Nancy Zhang, Kimberly Giangtran, Nick Lee

Kaitlyn Willoughby (FRESH START) – Elected
David Hickman (FRESH START) – Elected
Mina Shareghi (Independent)
Gage Bazinet (Independent)
Danielle Denee Viviani (Independent)
Nancy Zhang (Independent) – Elected
Kimberly Giangtran (FRESH START) – Elected
Nick Lee (FRESH START) – Elected
Karsyn Nicole Stewart (Independent)

Off-campus Senator (2 elected): Ale Felix, Deema Alsaied

Ethan Christensen (FRESH START)
Ale Felix (Independent) – Elected
Deema Alsaied (Independent) – Elected

Transfer Senator: Yusuf Hamid Altimimi

Yusuf Hamid Altimimi (FRESH START) – Elected
Erika Marie Kelly (Independent)

Arts and Humanities Senator: Harry Huang

Harry Huang (FRESH START) – Elected
Adarsh Parthasarathy (Independent)

Biological Sciences Senator: Amor Goetz

Amor Goetz (Independent) – Elected
Preethi Veeragandham (FRESH START)

Engineering Senator: Efran Elias Martinez

Efran Elias Martinez (FRESH START) – Elected
Garrett Jackson Taylor (Independent)

Physical Sciences Senator: Shirley Zhang

Shirley Zhang (FRESH START) – Elected
Walker “Thomas” Nabors (Independent)

Social Science Senator: Annika Manlutac

Annika Manlutac (FRESH START) – Elected

Ethan Edward Coston is the Incoming Managing Editor of The Triton. You can follow him @Ethan4Books. Assistant Managing Editor Anabel King and Outgoing Editor-in-Chief Mo Al Elew contributed to the research and writing for this article.