The final Duke Student government Spring election cycle concluded Tuesday and elected the vice presidents, senators and class council members for the 2013-2014 academic year.
A total of 1,819 ballots were cast in the election, which was postponed due to a technological glitch. The victors included three write-in senatorial candidates.
“Every election cycle is very different,” said junior Sam Marks, DSG attorney general. “It isn’t completely unheard of to have write-in candidates win, but it is very uncommon.”
Junior Leilani Doktor was elected vice president for social culture. Sophomore James Kennedy was elected vice president for facilities and the environment. Ray Li, a sophomore, was elected vice president for academic affairs. Derek Rhodes, a sophomore, was elected vice president for Durham and regional affairs. Lavanya Sunder, a freshman, was elected vice president for services. Junior Jacob Tobia was elected vice president for equity and outreach. Jacob Zionce, a sophomore, was elected vice president for residential life.
“I am so excited, and I think they are going to do a phenomenal job,” said junior Stefani Jones, president-elect. “All of the senators that were chosen are going to do an incredible job.”
The Class of 2016 elected Keizra Mecklai and Michael Pelle as senators for the equity and outreach committee; Tucker Albert as senator for the social culture committee; Aubrey Temple and Abhi Sanka as senators for the residential life committee; Ji-Ho Park and Stacey Zhou as senators for the academic affairs committee; Hannah McCracken as senator for the facilities and environment committee; Neel Desai and Kimberly Farmer as senators for the Durham and regional affairs committee; Jesse Hu and Billy Silk as senators for the services committee. Silk was elected via write in votes.
The Class of 2015 elected Chandler Thomas and Nika Duan as senators for the equity and outreach committee; Michael Washington as senator for the services committee; Ellie Schaack as senator for the residential life committee; Cynthia Wang as senator for the academic affairs committee. Duan was elected via write in votes.
The Class of 2014 elected Patrick Oathout as senator for services; Daniella Cordero as senator for equity and outreach; Zachary Pearlstein as senator for social culture. Cordero and Pearlstein were elected via write in votes. Marks said in order for write-in candidates to win, they must receive at least 50 votes—the number or signatures required for a candidate to be placed on the ballot.
Jones said that the increased number of write in candidates are a positive sign that students are interested in being a part of DSG.
“I am excited to join the Senate as a senator again,” Oathout, current executive vice president, said. “I think the core of DSG is senators that are active in working on projects that the student body really cares about.”
He added that candidates who were not elected should continue trying to be a part of DSG.
“As someone who has lost many elections in my time at Duke, I know that you can still achieve your goals if you just keep trying to succeed,” Oathout said.
Andrew Leon Hanna was elected senior class president. Athidi Guthikonda was elected vice president of the senior class.
Bret Lesavoy was elected junior class president. Kenai McFadden was elected vice president of the junior class.
Isabella Kwai was elected sophomore class president. Sayoni Saha was elected vice president of the sophomore class.
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