“Let’s Make it Happen” candidates Monica Kumar and Antoine Perretta won last week’s Senate election for president and vice president, respectively, by 77 votes.
“I think the students trusted us. We were able to narrow our campaign focus into three main goals. When you talk about too many things people feel like you might not be able to accomplish it all,” Perretta said of the win.
Election results, announced last Wednesday evening about half an hour after the polls closed, put 10 “Rock the Vote” candidates and seven “Let’s Make it Happen” hopefuls in Senate positions for the 2008-2009 school year.
This year 1,183 students voted in the elections, an increase from last year’s 1,120. Though the election ran smoothly for the most part, it was not without problems.
A phony letter was received by the “Rock the Vote” ticket right before the election accusing the group of violating the copyright on their campaign slogan.
“Although there were no personal problems in between the two tickets, a fake letter was sent to my ticket with the intention to damage; however, we were able to mitigate the situation and run a successful campaign,” Caitlin Shea, “Rock the Vote” vice presidential candidate said.
The individual responsible for the scam has been identified, according to Shea, and was not involved with Kumar or Perretta.
The “Rock the Vote” ticket did obtain permission before using the slogan, Shea said.
No official action will be taken by the Senate against the individual at this time, according to Troy Hashimoto, who oversees the Senate Elections Committee. Both parties said that they were relieved to have finished the campaign process.
Kumar, Perretta and the newly elected senators will now turn their attention to transitioning into their new roles and developing goals and agendas for the upcoming school year.
The Kumar/Perretta platform and future Senate agenda focuses on three concepts: tradition, pioneering change and sustainability.
Among campaign promises were the return of former mascot Boone, Senate promotion of inclusive excellence on campus and campus unification.
The opposition, “Rock the Vote” candidates for President and VP, Michael Nicoletti and Caitlin Shea, said they were relieved to have the stress of the campaign come to an end.
“I look forward to [the new Senate] making some great positive changes on this campus and really putting their words into actions,” Shea said.
The campaign and election processes were changed slightly this year from previous years.
The elections were held earlier in the year in order to leave more time for new senators to make the transition into their positions, and a cap of $450 was set on campaign spending to avoid accusations that one party may have had a campaign advantage, according to Hashimoto.
