Students First sweeps runoff offices
Brazil, Duarte, Kawai win IVP, academic affairs, facilities commissioners slots
By Rashmi Nijagal
Daily Bruin Staff
In undergraduate runoff elections Thursday night, Students First candidates swept the remaining offices of internal vice president, academic affairs commissioner and facilities commissioner.
In contrast to the past two weeks, during which campaigning slates have frequently butted heads, the final elections last night marked a turning point where both greek and progressive candidates acknowledged their differences but agreed to work toward better relations.
"(Regardless) of where we came from, we were able to work together," Rob Greenhalgh, undergraduate student government president, said about this past year. "(Now) we all need to look at areas of common ground."
York Chang, undergraduate president-elect, agreed.
"I don't believe that we can necessarily hold hands and sing 'Kumbaya.' I don't think we have to even like each other," Chang said. "(But) you have to understand that there needs to be a level of respect."
As the results were announced last night, the difference between sides became evident. Compared to last week's primary elections, when members of both slates had some reason to cheer, only the Students First coalition sprayed champagne in the air victoriously after completing a sweep of most undergraduate government offices.
Barbara Brazil won the office of internal vice president by a slim majority with 52.76 percent over Pilar McLellan's 47.24 percent.
Brazil had also won by a narrow margin with 50 percent in primary elections last week. But because of a 35-vote discrepancy in the number of ballots and the narrow difference in results, the Elections Board decided to send the race into runoffs. Students First supporters unsuccessfully urged undergraduate government to cancel the runoff because there was no evidence of which candidate received the 35 extra votes.
Last night, Brazil had only one thing to say: "The students have spoken, again."
Cynthia Duarte, academic affairs commissioner-elect, said she looks forward to her new post next year.
"You are going to see a lot of action on this campus next year," Duarte said. "We are going to take the same (issues) we have been working on all year and take them to student government."
Mikako Kawai, facilities commissioner-elect, agrees.
"A lot of (Students First) candidates came from a lot of organizations on campus and I think that we really worked hard," Kawai said. "(The facilities office) is going to be a very busy office."
In spite of the results, Kim Bayley, defeated candidate for the office of academic affairs, hopes to continue working on the issues she campaigned for.
"Students voted for the people that they believed in," Bayley said. "And I hope to continue work on the issues that I advocated for on this campaign."
McLellan and Laura David-son, defeated candidates for internal vice president and facilities commissioner respectively, refused comment.
While various controversies during this year's elections grabbed much attention, only 3,863 students took the time to vote in the final elections. During the primary race last week, 4,952 undergraduates voted.
But the drop-off in voter turnout was because the final elections involved fewer offices and less people were interested in them, said Nikki Vivion, Elections Board chair.
"The turnout was fair -- slightly lower than last week, while the whole elections were slightly lower than previous years," Vivion said. "I was not really surprised. Generally, the candidates are more tired in the whole process, and so is the Elections Board."