On Wednesday, March 4, the results of the spring 2020 Student Government election were announced, with the student body president and vice president election going to a runoff between Carlie Higgins/Powell Braddock and Melanie Flowers/McKenzy Heavlin.
Runoffs are called when none of the student body president and vice president tickets receive over 50% of the vote in initial elections. This year’s runoff will be held Thursday, March 5 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. through the GetInvolved website. Results will be announced March 5 at 9 p.m.
According to a presentation by the Board of Elections, 4644 students voted in the election. Of these, 1901 students voted for Higgins, a third-year transfer student in political science and communication, and Braddock, a first-year studying chemical engineering. Flowers, a third-year studying communication, and Heavlin, a second-year studying electrical engineering, received 957 votes.
Both referendums on the ballot passed by large margins. The first, Case Cody Constitutional Pronouns Referendum, replaces all instances of “she/her/hers” and “he/him/his” in the Student Body Constitution with “they/them/theirs.” The second, dealing with a proposed Justice Department, removes references to the Student Conduct Board from Student Government documents, reflecting the body’s independence. In its place, a new Justice Department will be formed, which will provide judicial review over nearly all actions taken by Student Government. A Technician editorial on the second referendum can be found here.
Flowers said she is fairly confident about their chances in the runoff.
“I think the other two tickets have given us a lot of their support, so I feel very good coming into this for runoff for the next 12 hours,” Flowers said. “I feel like they [Higgins-Braddock] put up a very good strategy to get the most amount of votes, but I also feel like we have a lot of support here on the other side, and I am really excited to take them on.”
Heavlin agreed with his running mate.
“All the other tickets put up a really good fight, and we look forward to working with them in the future as well,” Heavlin said.
Higgins said while she was a little anxious for the runoff, she was thrilled to see how well her campaign did.
“I’m a bit overwhelmed,” Higgins said. “I was not expecting that. I know our supporters will be there. We’ll be ready. I mean we won by 20%, so I’m confident in us. I’m just really excited and really thankful for everyone that came out and supported us.”
Higgins said she is ready to face off against her opponents, Flowers and Heavlin, in the runoff.
“I wish them the best in this fight,” Higgins said. “They’ve done a great job, and they’ve been nothing but kind this entire time.”
Braddock was grateful for the support her campaign received.
“I’m astounded that I’ve received the support of so many constituents, and I’m really happy that I get to support my school in this position,” Braddock said.
Two students were running uncontested for student body officer positions. Student Body Treasurer-elect Garrison Seitz, a second-year studying civil engineering, said he was grateful for the Board of Elections’ work throughout the election cycle.
Student Senate President-elect Coleman Simpson, a first-year graduate student in agricultural leadership, was extremely satisfied to see both referendums pass.
“I’m super excited that the referendums passed,” Simpson said. “I think they’re going to make us a more effective advocacy body, and I’m super excited to serve the student body next year in Senate as the Senate president. I’m ready to gear up and talk about tuition and fees with administrators.”
In addition to revealing the student body president and vice president election results, the elected senators for the different colleges were also announced, as follows:
Graduate and Lifelong Education Senators (4):
- Evan Curcio
- Cassie Newman
- James Withrow
- Miles Calzini
Wilson College of Textiles Senators (2):
- Carson Kraycik
- MK Frye
College of Natural Resources Senators (3):
- Ann Winstead
- Brady Dillingham
- John Laney
Division of Academic and Student Affairs Senators (2)**:
- Jacob Best
- Tiara Caldwell
College of Sciences Senators (5):
- Molly Vanhoy
- Emily Oppold
- Mayce Mattox
- Catherine Johnsen
- Abigail Koreneck*
- Shriya Ramesh*
College of Humanities and Social Sciences Senators (7):
- Sara Luber
- Kennedy Sain
- Mallory McMahon
- Conner Paszko
- Brooks Gaster
- Tony Ramsey
- Connor Clary*
- Sia Olomua*
- Henry Swartout*
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Senators (6):
- Max Hagaman
- Omar Jaramillo
- Tilley Anne Hanvey
- Malachi Curtis
- Ethan Renfro
- Thomas Jackson*
- Charlie Gantt*
Poole College of Management Senators (5):
- Graham West
- Candace Bowden
- Jack Best
- Matthew Jenkins
- Thomas Walsh
College of Engineering Senators (9):
- Abby Finan
- Hannah Buck
- Alex Carruth
- Vincent Mendenilla
- Jack Halasz
- Ragen Willaford- Menefee
- Berra Karg
- Nathan Ellis
- Jacob Schmiedl*
- Malek Abedrabouh*
*Candidates are eligible to participate in the runoff election.
**The number of Division of Academic and Student Affairs Senators has been corrected to only show two seats.
Melanie Flowers, a third-year studying communication, and McKenzy Heavlin, a third-year studying electrical engineering, celebrate their candidacy making the runoff ticket for student body president and vice president in the Student Involvement Center on Wednesday, March 4, 2020. In order to win Student Body President and Vice President, the candidates must receive over 50% of the vote, or a runoff election is held between the top two tickets. Since neither had the majority vote, there will be a runoff between Melanie Flowers and McKenzy Heavlin against Carlie Higgins and Powell Braddock on Thursday, March 5, 2020 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
