The A.S. Council General Elections came to a close at 4 p.m. on Friday, April 10. Dominick Suvonnasupa of Tritons United won the presidential race against Students Determined candidate Travis Miller. Taylor N. Valdivia of Students Determined won the race for vice president of campus affairs against Bryan Dierking of Tritons United. Also of Students Determined, Krystl Fabella became the vice president of external affairs after running uncontested.
After the polls closed, the elections committee heard three grievances from candidates, all of which were dismissed. Following the elections committee hearing, candidates gathered at Round Table Pizza in Price Center to await the election results. A.S. Elections Manager Ryan Huyler arrived and he and the other committee members announced the winning candidates.
Following the announcement of the results, Suvonnasupa told the UCSD Guardian that his win was bittersweet.
“It’s difficult because I know Travis is very qualified, as well,” Suvonnasupa said. “I respect him so much and wish the best for him.”
Miller told the Guardian that he was a little disappointed but very excited. His slate also won seven out of the eight campuswide senator positions and two out of five academic senator positions.
“It was never just about me — it was about the journey; it was about everyone,” Miller said. “Coming into this, I honestly didn’t think we were going to take many seats and we took almost every seat.”
The newly elected Vice President of Campus Affairs Taylor Valdivia expressed shock and excitement for this upcoming year.
“I couldn’t be more proud of Students Determined,” Valdivia said. “I cannot wait to see what our future has in store.”
Lauren Roberts, one of the seven incoming campuswide senators from the Students Determined slate, praised her fellow Students Determined candidates and commented on her slate’s motivations.
“Students Determined was built out of the idea that short-term goals could make a big-picture difference here at UCSD,” Roberts said. “And we’re going to use our three quarters to do something impactful.”
Thadeus John Odom was the only candidate representing Tritons United to be elected as a campuswide senator. Odom told the Guardian that he looks forward to progressing the Council and wants to give student organizations more power.
“I think the student orgs really know what the students want more than A.S. [Council] does,” Odom said. “They need to have more power and visibility on this campus.”
When asked how he felt about this election season, Huyler told the Guardian it was a success.
“We got almost 24.5-percent turnout — that’s more than last year,” Huyler said. “And the grievance process went well, so, overall, I think it went well.”
Huyler also told the Guardian about the technical problem involving the University Centers Referendum. According to Huyler, graduate students weren’t able to vote between 10 a.m. Monday and 4 a.m. Tuesday. To make up for this, only graduate students will be allowed to continue voting from 10 a.m. on Monday, April 13 until 4 a.m. on Tuesday, April 14.
“At that point, if there are any grievances, we’ll hear them that night,” Huyler said. “Otherwise, we’ll certify the results Tuesday.”
The UCEN Referendum would raise students’ quarterly fees by $14 with yearly adjustments of 2.9 percent to account for inflation.
