The Associated Students of the University of Arizona election results revealed the final executive and senatorial seats for the 2010-11 school year Wednesday night.
Every seat in the house was full with some of the more than 100 spectators even sitting on the floor as the result of the 3,480 ballots cast in the general election.
“”You should all be very proud of yourselves,”” said Justine Piscitello, elections commissioner for ASUA. “”You all ran a very good race.””
The night turned out some historical wins for candidates.
Current Executive Vice President Emily Fritze became only the eighth female student body president elected in UA history with 2,714 votes.
“”Overall, I’m just really excited to serve the students of the University of Arizona,”” Fritze said. “”So I think it’s going to be a crazy, exciting and very successful year in ASUA.””
Pre-business sophomore Brett Ponton became the first male administrative vice president since 2002 with 51.1 percent of the vote, beating out a tearful Sen. Hillary Davidson by only 68 votes.
“”In all honesty, I came in here prepared to lose,”” Ponton said. “”I had no idea I would be in this position for my junior year.””
Ponton expressed his sadness over Davidson’s loss but also preparedness for the position.
“”I feel really bad for Hillary,”” he said. “”We were both so passionate about this position … but with being administrative chief of staff, I feel more than ready.””
Battles for the senate placed a virtual shuffle of the top 10 primary winners. Only political science senior Gabriella Castillon, who received a 10th place ranking in the primaries, did not receive a final senate seat, being supplanted by marketing sophomore Dominick San Angelo.
Pre-business freshman Mary Myles gained the most votes, with 9.3 percent, topping 1,529 votes.
“”We worked until the very last minute of elections and I was really nervous at first, but we all worked really hard so it feels good,”” Myles said after hearing of her victory.
The last name to be called in the race for senate, interdisciplinary studies junior Deanna Mariner, remained breathless as she received the 10th and final spot on the senate with 5.9 percent, or 972 votes.
“”Everyone else was going up and my heart was breaking a little each time,”” Mariner said of her anxious wait to hear the results.
Even candidates who did not win were impressed with the race and were excited to see where ASUA would go from here.
“”It was all really fun and it was a really good race,”” said Jarrett Benkendorfer, a political science sophomore, who got 13th place in the senate elections with 4.9 percent of the vote.
Benkendorfer, unsure of whether he wanted to run again next year, expressed hope that winners would be representative of the students on fees and would work to expand seats on senate even if they weren’t his own.
“”We just want someone in there who will do their job,”” he said.
Elected candidates will be inaugurated on May 3.
