SGA Senate Election Brings High Voter Turnout

By Liz Friden

The fourth-ever Student Government Association (SGA) Senate elections took place Wednesday night with the most candidates running for Senate in SGA history.

Senate races had increased interest this year, which resulted in a total of forty-five candidates on the ballot. The Class of 2022 was the most competitive race with the highest number of candidates.  Vice President of SGA Weston Kirby attributes the rise in interest to SGA accomplishing more on campus last year, like the implementation of the McMahon crosswalk and the increased employment of Hall Security Assistants in residence halls.

“Students have learned, too, that as an organization, SGA can effectively work with administrators in revising plans like Academic Renewal or providing feedback on a number of projects happening on campus,” Kirby said.

In the past, an increased interest in candidacy has led to a higher voter turnout among students. That remains true this year as 897 students voted in this election, an increase of more than 200 voters from last years Senate election. The total voter turnout in last year’s election was 689 students.

The newly elected Senate will be sworn in on October 1st at the first Senate meeting of the year at 8 p.m. in Great Room B of the Pryzbyla Center. This Senate term will run through the end of finals week in May.

Aaron Mackisey and Cecilia Bracey will represent the newly formed School of Music, Drama, and Art. Mackisey is the former Senator of the music school. He feels that despite having less representation in SGA these students will have more of a voice being represented as a group rather than individual majors. 

Friday, September 21st will be a run-off election with the two School of Architecture and Planning candidates who tied, Bobby Conway and Nicholas Procino. This election will be 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on the Nest. Write-in votes are still being handled as well. 

“We are still determining all of the logistics for write-in votes, and we will have this information made public as soon as we can,” Weston concluded.

Junior politics major Michael Klein explained why he decided to run this year. “I realized I really want to leave something behind for future cardinals and I want to have a positive impact on my peers and this is one of the ways I can do it,” he said.

The results from Wednesday night are:

Class of 2019

Katie Troilo

Owen Crowley

Class of 2020

Michael Klein

Elise LaFleur

Class of 2021

Ally Kilgore

Joseph Arbie

Class of 2022

Gerald Sharpe

Gemma Del Carmen

School of Architecture and Planning

Sara Cangarlu

School of Arts & Sciences

Cavan Hagerty

Alexander Santana

Busch School of Business

Nick Spinelli

Rachel Garfield

School of Engineering

Kaitlin Shanahan

Leo Nardo

Rome School of Music, Drama, & Art

Aaron Mackisey

Cecilia Bracey

National Catholic School of Social Service

Emmanuel Montesa

School of Nursing

Leigh Calotta

Anthony Vincent

School of Philosophy

Melissa Zentz

School of Theology & Religious Studies

Alec McGuire

Cornelius Deep