In an election with an overall voter turnout of 50.5 percent-the highest in recent memory-Trinity junior Lino Marrero swept into the Duke Student Government presidency Thursday night after capturing 31 percent of the ballots cast.
Although Marrero served as president of Trent 2 his freshman year, president of the Class of 1998 last year and at-large member to the class government this year, he has never held a DSG office. Marrero did, however, run for DSG president last year and finished a distant second to Trinity senior Takcus Nesbit.
Marrero declined a telephone interview with The Chronicle Thursday night but said in an e-mail message that he hopes all of the unsuccessful contenders for the presidency would play a part in his administration.
"The student body has given me an enormous responsibility to lead with their concerns at heart," Marrero said. "That is a mandate that I promise to keep."
Trinity junior Trang Nguyen, current vice president for community interaction, finished second to Marrero, collecting 24 percent of the vote. Trinity junior Chris Lam, current vice president for student affairs, ran third with 19 percent.
Also victorious Thursday were Trinity sophomores Sarah Mitchell and Maya Corey, who ran unopposed for the executive vice president and vice president for community interaction posts, respectively.
Mitchell, who will serve her second term in the same position, garnered 94 percent of the vote, while Corey tallied 93 percent.
Trinity sophomore Jeri Powell secured an outright win for the vice president for facilities and athletics job with 48 percent of the vote.
The remaining two vice-presidential positions-academic affairs and student affairs-were too close to declare outright winners and, therefore, will require run-offs to determine the victor. Trinity freshman Ben Kennedy and Trinity sophomore Jeff Pavlovic will vie for the former office in next Wednesday's run-off election, while Trinity sophomore Bianca Motley and Trinity junior Todd Sears will compete for the latter post.
According to DSG bylaws, a candidate for any executive DSG position must win by a 6-percent margin. Kennedy and Pavlovic finished with 33 and 30 percent, respectively, while Motley and Sears ended up with 41 and 37 percent, respectively.
Nesbit said that although Marrero's inexperience in DSG will necessitate a period of adjustment, he is confident that Marrero's term will be successful.
"I think, overall, the student body made a good choice," Nesbit said. "And I think they'll be happy with the leadership in DSG next year."
Nesbit said the two biggest issues facing Marrero will be the pending curriculum review and the capital campaign. He said he hoped Marrero would follow through on his campaign promises, as the two aforementioned issues will have far-reaching implications for the University.
In a statement released late Thursday night, the Elections Commission of DSG-chaired by Trinity sophomore Josh Schaffer, DSG attorney general-attributed the unparalleled voter turnout to a strong candidate pool and to the referendum on the controversial Achievement Index.
The referendum was overwhelmingly rejected by the student body, as 88 percent voted against it (see related story, page 1). "We hope the Arts and Sciences Council will take these results into account when they cast their vote," the commission's statement reads.
Schaffer said the election ran smoothly and that only two written complaints alleging campaign violations were submitted to him, both of which were later withdrawn.
During his campaign, Marrero established several goals for himself if elected. Among them, he said he would strive to establish off-campus shuttles to Chapel Hill and Raleigh in an effort to provide an alternative to West Campus' fraternity-dominated social scene. The Fort Lauderdale, Fla., native also wants to develop a flexible parking pass during the day for East and West Campuses and explore ways to curb the exorbitant cost of parking tickets and towing fees.
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