AS Election Results 2022: Aspire Sweeps the Ballot but Sky’s the Limit for Yang

The Associated Students at UCSD (ASUCSD) Election Committee announced the college council and campus-wide election results on April 8 at Dirty Birds Bar and Grill. The results were also live-streamed via Facebook Live and Zoom Webinar. Voter turnout this election cycle was 10.49%, up from last year’s turnout of 7.89% but still lower than 2020’s turnout of 21.37%. Seventh College had the highest turnout rate for two years in a row at 28.01%.

The 2022 election was the first election held during in-person academic instruction since 2019. During the election results announcement, Associated Students (AS) Elections Manager Maria Charles congratulated all of the candidates for taking the time to campaign and encourage people to vote.

“I just want to say that regardless [of] the results of this election to keep continuing on all your leadership capabilities and abilities and continue serving the Triton community in the way you see fit,” Charles said.

Out of 30,992 currently enrolled undergraduate students, 3,250 cast a vote in this year’s election.

President-Elect Sky Yang, one of three presidential candidates and the sole independent presidential candidate, hopes to “increase transparency, to really let everyone know about what Associate Students do and how the money is spent.”

Yang also expressed interest in increasing security on campus, particularly regarding preventing bike thefts.

The ASPIRE slate, which emphasized an equitable community at UCSD, greater academic choice, and more accessible academic accommodations, swept the VP positions, with Vice President of Academic Affairs-Elect Rhianen Callahan and Executive Vice President-Elect Rachel Lau both winning their desired positions. Additionally, out of their slate of ten candidates, seven were elected.

Lau hopes to “push campus administration to provide free menstrual products on campus in frequently used bathrooms, maybe even in residential areas.”

The BREAKTHROUGH slate focused on progressive change at UCSD, such as supporting the Green New Deal. Out of a slate of four candidates, all of whom ran for senator positions, BREAKTHROUGH won the positions of Biological Sciences Senator and Transfer Senator.

BREAKTHROUGH candidate Linda Natividad, who was elected Transfer Senator, commented, “It’s very much a privilege to have any bit of power and I [will do my] very best to bring positive change and change that the students want to see.”

The Olympic slate, which highlighted empowering students and supporting a more inclusive campus for UCSD’s student body, faced criticism for aiming to represent campus diversity while presenting an all-male slate.

“I would like to say first off that Olympic did reach out to many various potential female candidates. Unfortunately, due to the short AS election filing deadline, we were unable to have them join our ticket,” said David Sanchez, Olympic’s candidate for Vice President of External Affairs.

Out of the Olympic slate’s 17 candidates, three won their desired positions.

The election also featured two referendums, the Graduate and Professional Student Association Fee and the Seventh College Student Activity Fee, which both passed. The Seventh College Student Activity Fee Referendum, which passed with a 28.9% voter turnout, will result in an additional $12 quarterly fee to support student organizations for Seventh College students.

Yang celebrated his successful election cycle with a trip to the San Diego Zoo: “I’m planning to go to the zoo tomorrow [April 9] with a college trip. It’s a five bucks ticket – can’t pass up on that.”

Below is a list of all the candidates who ran for each position. 

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President: Sky Yang

• Sky Yang (Independent) – Elected.
• Aidan Lin (ASPIRE)
• Tyler L. Reid (Olympic)

Executive Vice President: Rachel Lau

• Rachel Lau (ASPIRE) – Elected.
• Rohan Sreedhar (Olympic)

Vice President External Affairs: Nikki Saito

• Nikki Saito (Independent) – Elected.
• David Sanchez (Olympic)

Vice President Academic Affairs: Rhianen Mae Callahan

• Rhianen Mae Callahan (ASPIRE) – Elected.
• Kali Probal Datta Chowdhury (Olympic)

Campus-wide Senators (5 elected): Liane Barkhordar, Michelle Griffith, Daosiri Rattanamansuang, Xavier Lopez, Shayan Khorramshahi

• Liane Barkhordar (Independent) – Elected.
• Michelle Griffith (ASPIRE) – Elected.
• Daosiri Rattanamansuang (ASPIRE) – Elected.
• Xavier Lopez (ASPIRE) -Elected.
• Shayan Khorramshahi (Olympic) – Elected.
• Ryan Wong (Olympic)
• Joshua Hwang (BREAKTHROUGH)
• Sam Daniel Hormozian (Olympic)
• Adam Tyler (Olympic)
• Daniel Alejandro Emiliano Soria (ASPIRE)
• Ulises Rodriguez (BREAKTHROUGH)
• Tom Hocquet (Independent)

Off-campus Senator (2 elected): Michelle Chiew and Joe Garduno

• Michelle Chiew (ASPIRE) – Elected.
• Joe Garduno (Olympic) – Elected.

Transfer Senator: Linda Estrella Natividad

• Linda Estrella Natividad (BREAKTHROUGH) – Elected.
• Robert Panttaja (Olympic)

Out-of-State Senator: Isabella Johnson

• Isabella Johnson (ASPIRE) – Elected.
• Antuan Ricardo Gonzalez (Olympic)

International Senator: Karla Tirado

• Karla Tirado (Independent) – Elected.
• Govinda Charan Sahoo (Olympic)
• Jaejune Lee (Independent)

Arts and Humanities Senator: Francesca Juarez

• Francesca Juarez (Independent) – Elected.
• Ansel Espinosa (Independent)

Biological Sciences: Vaishnavi Ventrapragada

• Vaishnavi Ventrapragada (BREAKTHROUGH) – Elected.
• Robert Richard Roach (Olympic)

Engineering Senator: Divya Gangaramani

• Divya Gangaramani (Independent) – Elected.
• Vardhan Agarwal (Olympic)

Physical Sciences Senator: Hunter Blackey

• Hunter Blackey (Olympic) – Elected.

Social Sciences Senator: Hope Morihara

• Hope Morihara (Independent) – Elected.
• Alexandra Hernandez (ASPIRE)
• Marcos Vedoya (Olympic)
• Cristian Fuentes Hernandez (Independent)

Angela Shu is a Staff Writer for The Triton. Sarah Naughten is the Incoming Managing Editor for The Triton. News Editor Elizabeth Peng assisted with the research and writing for this article.