Student body election results were released at 3:10 a.m. Wednesday morning, marking the end to the two-week campaign period and introducing a new executive branch for Student Government. At Student Senate’s Wednesday meeting, which began with a welcome speech by new Chancellor Randy Woodson, the four executive members were sworn in.
Kelly Hook, student body president-elect, said she was overwhelmed with the results.
“I’m so lucky, I’m so excited, and I have to thank my amazing team,” Hook said. “I’m speechless.”
To her supporters, Hook said, she was thankful.
“I had an amazing hard-working team; I won because of the people around me,” Hook said. “Thank you, I don’t know what else to say, I’m so overwhelmed. I’ve been 56 hours with no sleep but I’m excited, let’s get stuff done right now.”
Lindsay Pullum, chair of the elections commission, said she was satisfied with the results of the election.
“It’s really rewarding, I’ve had a really great time,” Pullum said. “I’ve learned a lot and I’ve applied a lot of what I’ve learned and it’s been really exciting to see everyone’s reactions.”
Pullum said she is excited for the upcoming year.
“It’s been great to see everything pay off for this University,” Pullum said. “It’s been incredibly humbling and I’m really excited for everybody. Everyone’s worked really hard.”
Stephen Kouba, Student Senate president-elect, said he is looking forward to leading the students’ representative body.
“I’m really excited. It’s going to be a great year,” Kouba said. “It’ll be great to start a new administration fresh.”
Despite losing, some of the other student body president candidates were enthusiastic about the upcoming year and said they looked forward to continuing their service as student leaders.
Scott Goldsmith, sophomore in political science and student body president candidate, said the decision was up to the students; they made the decision.
Likewise, Zach Lego, junior in aerospace engineering and student body president candidate, said, “I didn’t win, but students spoke and they got the person they wanted to win.”
Lego and Goldsmith said they hoped to serve in other leadership positions next year, including serving in the Student Senate.
Kouba said the other candidates would be welcome because of their experience and desire to serve the campus. He said he hopes to see them next year.
According to the unofficial results provided by Lindsay Pullum, Hook was victorious over the other two final student body president candidates by more than 1,000 votes after the sixth round of the instant-runoff voting system. Hook had 51.7 percent of the vote in that round, Ches McDowell, junior in political science, was second with 32.8 percent and Woodward rounded out the top three with 15.6 percent of the total number of student body president ballots — there were 5,717 cast for the position.
According to Pullum, no candidates were disqualified for finance violations. All the candidates remained within their total campaign budgets. McDowell spent the most money with $847.49 in total expenditures, Hooks’ expenses were $842.34 and Matt Woodward spent the least of the top three, with $582.82.
Hook said she could not wait to begin her term as student body president.
“The University is going to be better,” Hook said.
Unofficial Results
Student Body President:
Kelly Hook 2,954
Ches McDowell 1,874
Matt Woodward 889
Student Senate President:
Stephen Kouba 3,038
Sarah Center 1,370
Michael Robinson 599
Student Body Treasurer:
Buddy Bryson 2,659
Kyle O Donnell 2,167
Student Body Chief Justice Monica Noble
Senate Centers President Marycobb Randall
Union Activities Board President Will Lamb
Senior Class President Kristy Craig
Senate — College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Agriculture Institute
Abbi Davis
Senate — CALS sophomores Caroline Yopp
Jonathon Smith
Senate — CALS juniors Matthew Barnhill
Lauren Irwin
Senate — CALS seniors
Ethan Harrelson , Meaghan Bethea, Rebekah Jewell
Senate — College of Design
Tucker Beeninga
Senate – College of Education
Joshua Skeeter
Senate — College of Engineering sophomores
Johnathan Tucker
Senate — Engineering juniors
Bethany Hrischuk, Justin Brooks , Brian Krystek
Senate — Engineering seniors
Jaryd Tehini , Bradley Selzer
Senate — First Year College
Phillip Christofferson
Senate — College of Humanities and Social Sciences sophomores
Andy Walsh, Kayla Davis
Senate — CHASS juniors
Reagan Gatlin, Jackie Smith, Adam Hughes
Senate — CHASS seniors
Lauren Demanovich, Teresa Heath
Senate — College of Management
Nathaniel Royer , Dennis Martin , James Cronin III , Lynn Clark , Adam Taylor
Senate — College of Natural Resources
Hanna Willoughby
Senate — College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences
Patrick Devore
Senate — First Year graduate
Nithyananthan Poosamani
Student Centers Board of Directors
Sarah Wood , Jonathon Smith , Ashley Wagner, Matthew Barnhill
Student Media Board of Directors
John Bullard, Paul McCauley, Dao Xuan Nguyen
Out of 31,872 possible voters, 5,876 ballots were cast
Source: Lindsey Pullum
