Only ticket running for Student Senate sweeps election

The unopposed Bridge OHIO swept the 2018-2019 Student Senate election.

[dropcap txtcolor="#234a83" style="dropcap1"]M[/dropcap]addie Sloat was elected Student Senate president with 604 votes. Hannah Burke was elected vice president with 611 votes and Lydia Ramlo won Treasurer with 597 votes. All candidates ran on the unopposed Bridge OHIO ticket. 673 students voted in the this year’s Student Senate election, compared to 2,202 in the 2017-18 election, and 2,097 voters in the 2016-17 election. 673 voters is less than one percent of the student population.President-elect Maddie Sloat said she believed turnout was low compared to previous years because only one ticket ran in the election.“We want to emphasise that we were disappointed no one else ended up running,” Sloat said. “I think it's definitely really hard to rally students to vote when there is only one ticket.”Sloat also addressed those who blamed Bridge OHIO for being the only ticket during the election.“I also really hope people are not portraying this as our fault in some way,” Sloat said. “I think that has been the conversation a lot, and we are the ones that stepped up and ran.”Vice President-elect Hannah Burke also expressed her disappointment in the voter turnout.“I think that this year we are going to try to work on making sure this isn't something that happens again,” Burke said.Sloat and Burke pointed towards diversity as a driving force behind Bridge OHIO. Sloat cited Neut Neuhart and Missy Pedula, both of whom are candidates for Ohio University College Republican president, as examples of diversity of thought in Bridge OHIO.“While we were recruiting our ticket members, we really looked to try and be as diverse as possible in a lot of different ways,” Burke said.Current Student Senate President Landen Lama commended Bridge OHIO for their victory.“I have full support in Maddie and her team and I know they'll do great things,” Lama said. “I’ll always be there to guide them and help them with anything they need.”Three candidates won write-in ballot campaigns. Jayden McAdams and Michaela Trawick both won positions as SAC representatives with 15 and 10 votes respectively. Simphiwe Songwhe won a position as an at-large senator with four votes. These positions were not contested by Bridge OHIO candidates.

Winners

President- Maddie Sloat- 604 votesVice President- Hannah Burke- 611 votesTreasurer- Lydia Ramlo- 597 votesAt-large SenatorsGray Levine (Bridge OHIO)- 504 votesMadeline Kate Baker (Bridge OHIO)- 501 votesRachael Ridout (Bridge OHIO)- 473 votesCam Sico (Bridge OHIO)- 470 votesSimphiwe- 4 votesSAC RepresentativesMissy Pendula (Bridge OHIO)- 495 votesJustin Kelley (Bridge OHIO)- 484 votesAudrey Bull (Bridge OHIO)- 479 votesPriscilla Opuku (Bridge OHIO)- 472 votesNiaree Williams (Bridge OHIO)- 465 votersZach Whetstone (Bridge OHIO)- 452 votesPace Brunswick (Bridge OHIO)- 444 votesJayden McAdams- 15 votesMichaela Trawick- 10Off Campus SenatorsAmal Afyouni (Bridge OHIO)- 290 votesAliviah Chaplin (Bridge OHIO)- 276 votesElli Lavon (Bridge OHIO)- 273 votesLa Ron Jones (Bridge OHIO)- 268 votesEva Holtkamp (Bridge OHIO)- 267 votesResidential SenatorsGabriela Soto (Bridge OHIO)- 101 votesRasmia Shrain (Bridge OHIO)- 100 votesAshley Robinson (Bridge OHIO)- 94 votesBenjamin Carman (Bridge OHIO)- 93 votesHunter Graffice (Bridge OHIO)- 82 votesRuss College of Engineering and Technology Senator- Neut Neuhart (Bridge OHIO)- 75 votesScripps College of Communications Senator- Stephen Sponhour (Bridge OHIO)- 95 votesCollege of Arts and Sciences Senator- Hams Kashoob (Bridge OHIO)- 152 votesCollege of Business Senator- Andy Brunson (Bridge OHIO)- 67College of Health Sciences and Professions Senator- Emma Shaver (Bridge OHIO)- 73 votesGladys W. and David H. Patton College of Education Senator- Ryanne Morr (Bridge OHIO)- 57 votesHonors Tutorial College Senator- Georgia Curran (Bridge OHIO)- 71 votes