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Spring elections result in divided ASUO Senate
Oregon Action Team totaled six Senate seat during the elections, while Rock the Yellow won eight
by Robert D'Andrea | News Reporter
Next year's ASUO Senate will begin as a body almost equally divided between the two slates that competed in the spring elections.
The Rock the Yellow campaign picked up six Senate seats during last week's general election, where Oregon Action Team gained one. In total, Oregon Action Team won six Senate seats and Rock the Yellow won eight during spring elections. Two independents were elected to the journalism and graduate and law seats, and the next executive will have to appoint an education senator.
ASUO Vice President-elect Johnny Delashaw of Oregon Action Team said he was happy with the results. "We had 15 out of 20 candidates win (overall)," he said.
Oregon Action Team also won two at-large seats on the EMU Board and a Senate seat on the Athletics and Contracts Finance Committee last week.
Turnout in the general election was about one-third of the turnout for the primary the week before. With the presidential race decided during the primary, Senate seats on finance committees were the highest offices open for voting to the entire student body. During the primary, 3,164 students voted for president. The special election held the week before had 853 students voting.
The race for Senate Seat 5 on the EMU Board had the highest turnout of the general election, in which 1,103 students voted. Rock the Yellow's Emma Kallaway won with 571 votes. Ted Sebastian of Oregon Action Team received 532 votes.
Senate Seat 1 on the Programs Finance Committee had the second highest turnout with 1,083 students voting. Rock the Yellow's Carina Miller defeated Sen. Sean Jin, 559 to 524.
Jin was appointed to the Senate earlier this month by ASUO President Emily McLain while he was an Oregon Action Team candidate. Jin said he was "not diminished" by the loss, and there will be plenty of opportunities for executive appointments and committee seats during the year.
Miller said she was "still in awe" that she won the race. She said she spoke with Jin and there will be no hard feelings between them.
The race for Senate Seat 12, which represents architecture and allied arts majors, resulted in a tie between independent Adrian Ho and Rock the Yellow's Nick Gower. Each received 50 votes. But Ho dropped out of the race on Sunday, according to ASUO Elections Coordinator Kendell Tylee.
Tylee said no write-in candidate for Senate Seat 20, which will represent education majors, received 10 votes, the minimum needed to win a seat with no candidates on the ballot.
Sens. Noor Rajabzadeh, Lee Warnecke and Kevin Parks will be returning next year to serve the remainder of their terms. Rajabzadeh and Warnecke were elected on the Campaign for Change ticket last year and are more likely to align with Oregon Action Team, based on positions they have taken publicly. Parks is more likely to side with members of Rock the Yellow based on his voting record for the year.
But Rock the Yellow campaign manager Matt Rose said there are no guarantees that those who ran together will end up voting together.
"I think last year proved that no one is beholden to what their slate did," he said. "I don't think any slate has stayed together and voted along slate lines."
rdandrea@dailyemerald.com
The Rock the Yellow campaign picked up six Senate seats during last week's general election, where Oregon Action Team gained one. In total, Oregon Action Team won six Senate seats and Rock the Yellow won eight during spring elections. Two independents were elected to the journalism and graduate and law seats, and the next executive will have to appoint an education senator.
ASUO Vice President-elect Johnny Delashaw of Oregon Action Team said he was happy with the results. "We had 15 out of 20 candidates win (overall)," he said.
Oregon Action Team also won two at-large seats on the EMU Board and a Senate seat on the Athletics and Contracts Finance Committee last week.
Turnout in the general election was about one-third of the turnout for the primary the week before. With the presidential race decided during the primary, Senate seats on finance committees were the highest offices open for voting to the entire student body. During the primary, 3,164 students voted for president. The special election held the week before had 853 students voting.
The race for Senate Seat 5 on the EMU Board had the highest turnout of the general election, in which 1,103 students voted. Rock the Yellow's Emma Kallaway won with 571 votes. Ted Sebastian of Oregon Action Team received 532 votes.
Senate Seat 1 on the Programs Finance Committee had the second highest turnout with 1,083 students voting. Rock the Yellow's Carina Miller defeated Sen. Sean Jin, 559 to 524.
Jin was appointed to the Senate earlier this month by ASUO President Emily McLain while he was an Oregon Action Team candidate. Jin said he was "not diminished" by the loss, and there will be plenty of opportunities for executive appointments and committee seats during the year.
Miller said she was "still in awe" that she won the race. She said she spoke with Jin and there will be no hard feelings between them.
The race for Senate Seat 12, which represents architecture and allied arts majors, resulted in a tie between independent Adrian Ho and Rock the Yellow's Nick Gower. Each received 50 votes. But Ho dropped out of the race on Sunday, according to ASUO Elections Coordinator Kendell Tylee.
Tylee said no write-in candidate for Senate Seat 20, which will represent education majors, received 10 votes, the minimum needed to win a seat with no candidates on the ballot.
Sens. Noor Rajabzadeh, Lee Warnecke and Kevin Parks will be returning next year to serve the remainder of their terms. Rajabzadeh and Warnecke were elected on the Campaign for Change ticket last year and are more likely to align with Oregon Action Team, based on positions they have taken publicly. Parks is more likely to side with members of Rock the Yellow based on his voting record for the year.
But Rock the Yellow campaign manager Matt Rose said there are no guarantees that those who ran together will end up voting together.
"I think last year proved that no one is beholden to what their slate did," he said. "I don't think any slate has stayed together and voted along slate lines."
rdandrea@dailyemerald.com
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