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There was a collective silence and mixed emotions in the Potomac Lounge Wednesday as the 2009-2010 executive board winning candidates were announced for next year’s Student Government Association.
Contrary to each ticket’s hopes of a sweeping victory, three members of Tigertown P.R.I.D.E and two members of Positive Change will be at the head of the SGA next year.
The election commission announced the winners for each position: Jon Graf – president (TP), Ben Steinberg – vice president (TP), Ryan Murphy – treasurer (PC), Jillian Koller – attorney general (TP) and Tierra Fields – chief of staff (PC).
The final margin of victory for each candidates was narrow, especially for the attorney general position, which Koller won by only eight votes ahead of Lodge. Only the vice presidential race exceeded a margin of 100 votes.
After the winners were announced, there was neither a roaring applause nor rushing around. The tickets consoled one another with hugs and even tears. Both tickets ran campaigns that emphasized the importance of their entire team being elected together.
“It’s really tough when you have some individuals who are in the positions, and it’s a great moment. But it’s even tougher when you have other individuals right next to you and you can’t share in that moment,” president-elect Jon Graf said.
Regardless of his full ticket not winning, Graf was optimistic about next year’s executive board.
“I’m feeling good. I really wish that it would’ve been my entire ticket, but I think we have the capability to work together. I’m really confident that next year will be a great year. There are great individuals on the exec. board… Great individuals,” Graf said.
Positive Change presidential candidate Ryan Assadi finished with 1,069 votes, 98 fewer than Graf.
During the voting period, 2,286 students voted electronically at Involved@TU, 200 more than last year. Assadi said he assumed it would result in a split ticket because the ticket names were not placed next to the candidate running on the ballot.
“I knew it was going to be split ticket because of the foul up,” Assadi said. “I was really hoping that we would all win together, though.”
Assadi said that he was surprised when SGA election commissioner Jenna Sieverts announced the winner of the presidential race first. He said that they had never done that before. He said that it “sucked” when he found out that he lost after three years of SGA experience.
“I’ve built my time here at Towson to try and do as much as I could do to benefit the student body. I’ve done a lot. I didn’t necessarily spend my time trying to build my network like I probably should have,” he said. “Right now in the moment it kind of feels like three years wasted.”
Like many of the winning candidates, Steinberg had mixed feelings knowing that the other ticket’s candidates will have to work together next year.
“I’m excited for what we’re going to do but it sucks for now. And I’m sure it will be great next year… Ryan and Tierra are great,” he said. “I think it’ll take some time this year to sit down and really get on the same page and get the same mindset of what we want to do. It’s just that you spend months considering what you could do as a group of five individuals… it’s a big readjustment.”
Vice presidential candidate for Positive Change Nicole Schiraldi was disappointed with the results but said she still has a job in the Administration Building as a backup plan.
“It’s unfortunate, really. It feels like your time went to waste. Ben’s never been in the SGA so it kind of sucks,” she said. “It’s upsetting. There’s really nothing more that we could’ve done. We did the best we could. It is what it is.”
Lodge, who only lost by eight votes, said his intentions are to stay in the SGA. He also said he is more saddened by Assadi’s loss than his own.
“Assadi eats, sleeps, and breathes the SGA. He taught me everything I know about student government,” he said. “I’m just going to clear my head, regroup everything and hit the ground running,”
Both tickets increased the intensity of campaigning throughout the week. Many of the candidates stood outside at “the beach” and around the speaker’s circle to increase voter support and instruct students on how to vote.
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