Jamie Anderson

Brett Monson and Erin Kennedy triumphed Feb. 25 in the closely contested Students’ Association presidential election, beating out the ticket of Tim Goldammer and Mark York by 61 votes.

“We knew it was going to be close, and the elections show that,” said Monson, a junior agricultural education major. “We did as much campaigning as we could and gave 100 percent. We put every single effort into it.”

Monson and Kennedy received 863 total votes, followed by Goldammer and York at 802, and Eric Haiar and Jared Darling at 370.

Monson and Kennedy received 290 votes from the College of Agriculture and Biological Sciences, which was over one-third of their votes. Goldammer and York got 179 votes from the College of Arts and Science, as did Haiar and Darling with 120 votes.

“The election was uncontested last year,” said Michael Kendall, current SA vice president. “I knew there were a lot of good candidates and platforms this year. To have around 2,000 votes was a pretty good turnout.”

Monson agreed.

“I’m so grateful for everyone’s participation,” he said. “We had really great tickets and amazing support the last two weeks. Thanks to everyone for just getting out and voting.”

Voting ran from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. at various locations on campus and online from Feb. 24 to 25.

“I really didn’t know what to expect. All of the tickets put in a lot of time and thought, and it was definitely hard to gauge what the overall results would be,” said Kennedy, a junior advertising major. “I was excited to see the white paper in the SA office with the results.”

Monson and Kennedy began the process of choosing at-large senators on March 1, and new senators are sworn in on March 15.

“Now that we won, it’s kind of like we threw our hat into the ring, and now we have to pull bunnies out,” Monson said. “Now the fun stuff can begin.”

Monson and Kennedy’s platform was based on student communication, community and wellness. Besides tackling their platform issues, Kennedy is looking forward to other things as well.

“I am looking forward to getting to know senators and making sure student voices get heard,” said Kennedy. “I’m pleased that it was a close race and that we will be serving the students.”