The current Student Senate president, Dan Gordillo, and the Action ticket dominated Senate elections, winning a supermajority in multiple categories, including president, vice president and treasurer.
Senate Judicial Panel announced the results of Student Senate elections Wednesday after voting took place Tuesday.
Students received an email to their Ohio University email accounts Tuesday with a link to vote. This year was the lowest turnout for a Student Senate election in the past eight years.
608 students voted in this election compared to 1,158 votes in last year’s election, according to the Senate Judicial Panel's Instagram.
Gordillo received 460 votes, 96.4% of the total presidential vote, securing his re-election campaign. The other candidate, Mia Grossholz, running for the Change ticket, received 10 votes and Benjamin Cameron received 7.
Gordillo said last year he felt he was able to change the culture of Senate, and that’s why some senators asked him to run again. He said he feels his transparency is what made him successful as Senate president, something he would like to continue.
“I have really worked immensely hard to make sure that everybody in the office knows who I am and how they’re being supported,” Gordillo said. “I have an open-door policy. You can come and talk to me about anything you need, whether you’re a Senate member or whether you’re a student.”
Taras Tarasun, who is a current International Affairs Senator, received 438 votes or 98.2% of the vice president vote. Tarasun ran against Reagan Daley, representing the Change ticket, and Daley received 8 votes for vice president.
Current senator at-large Luke Fredericks was elected as treasurer with 476 or 99.5% of the vote.
Other winners were Donald Theisen for delegate at large, Katelynn Fox for residential senator, Charlie Bartels for College of Arts and Sciences senator, Jayson Smith for Honors Tutorial College senator and Aiden Wickham for university life at large.
One of Gordillo’s campaign promises was to keep controversy away from Senate, and he said he hopes to keep next year as drama-free as this year.
“The environment in the Senate has entirely shifted back to student advocacy. It’s been shifted away from building a future political career, or it’s been shifted away from enriching yourself in whatever way, and it’s back to students,” Gordillo said.
