ASUA presidential candidates Taylor Ashton and Issac Ortega will advance to the general election next week after the results of the primary elections were announced Thursday night.
The results were revealed after a last minute room change and technical difficulties delayed the announcement by 15 minutes. A total of 4,192 ballots were cast – the the highest amount since 1989, when ASUA began tracking the number of ballots, according to Marc Small, the ASUA elections commissioner.
Ashton and Ortega took the two spots for the presidential campaign, advancing to the general elections. Ashton lead the field with 41.6 percent for a total 1,659 votes. Ortega trailed by 168 votes to garner 37.4 percent.
Ahva Sadeghi, the third ASUA presidential candidate, was eliminated from the race after receiving 20.6 percent of the votes, amounting to 821 total.
“I was really nervous until they said my name, but I’m really excited and this next week I guarantee you I won’t let up,” Ortega said. “My whole goal was to be able to sit in this seat tonight and say, ‘We did everything right, and to the best of our ability,’ and everybody on my team I think did that.”
Ashton said that visiting all the numerous groups on campus helped him with this win.
“I definitely reached out. I went out to so many different clubs, the cultural center, met with individuals, walked around campus, met as many people as I possibly could,” Ashton said.
All 17 ASUA senators running will continue on to the general elections, with Elena Gold, a returning senator running for re-election leading the senate field with 1,569 votes, or 10.4 percent of the votes cast for senate candidates.
Daniel Douglas, as the only candidate running for Administrative Vice President, moved on, as did Jordan Allison and Daniel Choice Anderson, the two students vying for the position of Executive Vice President.
Voting for the general elections opens at 8 a.m. on March 11 and lasts through 8 p.m on March 12. The results will be announced on March 13 at 7 p.m.
Vote tally:
Taylor Ashton – 1,659
Issac Ortega – 1,491
Ahva Sadeghi – 821
