Members of the Students First Party celebrated victory Friday in the Union after nearly sweeping the student body elections.
Students First was only 10 short of claiming all of the 67 elected positions that include president, vice president, senior class president, Senate and Assembly members. People Incorporated won nine of those positions, and one independent candidate received enough votes to be elected as a senator.
Ali Hasnain, president-elect of ASUU, attributed the victory to hard work, efforts at sincerity and integrity.
From the time the announcement was made, those who had sported yellow shirts thought forward to taking office.
Future Senior Class President Lissy Largin went back to work as a senior class committee member-she had to leave the post during campaigning-just hours after the election announcement. Hasnain and Poelman said they were going to spend the next month or so planning and prioritizing what they hope to accomplish during their administration.
Part of that will be continuing to recruit businesses to accept the UCard that would give cardholders a discount on merchandise. ASUU will collect the processing fees from the vendors.
Current Associated Students University of Utah Vice President Bobby Harrington said he thinks Hasnain and Poelman will do a “phenomenal” job.
“[Poelman’s] heart is totally in the right place. He’s the type of leader, regardless of the title, he’s going to be involved, actively trying to make a difference in students’ lives,” Harrington said. He also complimented Hasnain’s people skills.
Taylor Morgan, People Incorporated’s presidential candidate, congratulated Students First’s leaders.
“I respect John and Ali and I’m excited for them. They’ve worked hard. They’ve run a great campaign,” Morgan said.
Hasnain also credited an endorsement that ran in the opinion section of The Daily Utah Chronicle on March 9 for his victory.
“I’m sure it helped us,” he said.
Hasnain also said he thought People Incorporated showed sincerity and integrity, despite the endorsement’s assertions that PINC members had proved themselves to be “less than completely honest.”
Campaign Manager for People Incorporated, Yandary Zavala, said the endorsement unfairly influenced the results of the election.
“I didn’t feel it was fair at all. I felt it wasn’t based on anything substantial but the opinions of certain individuals. And a lot of it was untrue,” she said. “I know we ran a campaign of integrity.”
Morgan agreed.”[The endorsement] misrepresented who we are and what we’ve done,” Morgan said.
Hasnain, Poelman and Largin will take office shortly after Spring Semester ends.