Kum Ticket Wins ASUU Presidential Election While Many Legislative Seats Remain Unfilled
Kum Ticket wins the ASUU presidential candidacy on Feb. 28, 2020 at University of Utah. (Photo by Ivana Martinez | Daily Utah Chronicle)
February 28, 2020
The Kum Ticket — Ephraim Kum, Michelle Valdes and Ayana Amaechi — won the ASUU presidential elections over the Hardenbrook and Nasser tickets.
The results were announced by Audrey Stegman, the elections registrar, on Feb. 28 at 1:45 p.m. on the patio of the A. Ray Olpin Union.
Kum’s win was met with cheers from the audience and a group hug and tears from the ticket. Kum said he was “really grateful” and Amaechi said she was “elated” about the win. The Kum ticket received 39.47% of the vote, followed by Hardenbrook, who received around 30.28% of the vote, and the Nasser ticket, who received 22.75%.
According to Stegman, voter turnout increased by 3% from the 2019 elections, garnering around 2,949 votes in the presidential election.
“All the students who supported and voted for us, they’re the whole reason we are even in this position … so much gratitude to them for believing in us and wanting us to advocate for them,” Valdes said.
They also expressed their gratitude to their team, the Daily Utah Chronicle and Hinckley Institute for hosting debates, the other tickets for bringing a lot to the discussion and the elections committee.
The ticket said they had no idea who was going to win until it was announced. Amaechi said it was really up in the air.
Kum said they are planning on meeting with the other tickets as soon as possible to learn about their plans and what can be adopted into the new presidency. Amaechi said that having two other tickets allowed everyone to have a platform to speak and brought attention to the election. “That was probably the best thing that contributed to having such an effective and efficient campaign,” she said.
Dallas Blackburn won attorney general over Nicholas Tygesen with 40.83% of the vote.
The results for both senate and assembly elections are as follows.
College of Architecture and Planning
Senate: Tressa Parkes ran uncontested.
David Eccles School of Business
Senate: Connor Leeming ran uncontested.
Assembly: The four seats went to Spencer Mukai with 19.06%, Taylor Vandertoolen with 20.20%, Emily Pellegrino with 16.37% and Katrina Price with 14.50%, beating out Ermiya Fanaeian and Nolan Phan.
College of Engineering
Senate: James Ehlers ran uncontested.
Assembly: Erin Morgan and Adrian Porras ran uncontested.
College of Nursing
Senate: Matthew Irwin ran uncontested
Assembly: Rosemary Richards beat Casey McFarland with 55.96% of the vote.
School of Medicine
Senate: Mariajose Velasco beat Alyssa Brown with 43.68% of the vote.
College of Pharmacy
Senate: Tuyet Lien Do Lam ran uncontested.
Assembly: Emi Radetich won over Hailey Hewitson and Shirley Luo with 70.59% of the vote.
College of Social and Behavioral Science
Senate: Tiffany Chan ran uncontested.
Assembly: Sarah Hong, Peyton Kosman and Taylor Thompson ran uncontested.
Undergraduate Studies
Senate: Divyam Goel ran uncontested.
College of Science
Assembly: Danny Bae and Bassel Tekarli ran uncontested.
School of Dentistry
Assembly: KC Esplin ran uncontested.
College of Fine Arts
Assembly: Gabriel Misla and Alexander Whitty ran uncontested.
College of Humanities
Assembly: Jessica Wojciechowski ran uncontested.
College of Social Work
Assembly: Emma Hicks ran uncontested.
There are empty Senate seats for the School for Cultural and Social Transformation, School of Dentistry, College of Education, College of Fine Arts, College of Health, College of Humanities, S.J. Quinney College of Law, College of Mines and Earth Sciences, College of Science and the College of Social Work.
There are empty Assembly seats for the College of Architecture and Planning, School of Cultural and Social Transformation, College of Education, College of Health, S.J. Quinney College of Law, School of Medicine, College of Mines & Earth Sciences and Undergraduate Studies.
The election site allows for students to express interest in taking the positions. Candidates will be interviewed and selected by ASUU.
