Austin Karstetter and Cruz Botello were named the ASUI president and vice president-elects for the 2016-2017 academic year 8 p.m. Wednesday in the Idaho Commons rotunda.
Karstetter overcame rival candidates Rachael Miller and McKenzie MacDonald by 25 votes, taking 50.6 percent of the vote.
Diamond Koloski | Argonaut
ASUI President-elect Austin Karstetter and Vice President-elect Cruz Botello celebrate the announcement Wednesday in the Idaho Commons.
Students gathered in the rotunda cheered as the announcement was made and the president and vice president-elect”s were showered with black and yellow balloons.
“I am so thrilled to be the next ASUI President,” Karstetter said. “It was nerve-wracking waiting for the results, but I am so glad all of our campaigning paid off.”
Among those congratulating Karstetter and Botello was Miller, who was neck and neck with Karstetter throughout the election.
“The election results being so close makes this a little bit harder, but I know that McKenzie and I did absolutely everything we could,” Miller said. “We worked so incredibly hard and I”m really proud of us.”
Miller said though she didn”t win the election, she still plans to be involved with ASUI. MacDonald said she also still plans to represent the student voice and will continue working on projects within ASUI.
“Knowing the election was so close is bittersweet,” MacDonald said. “It”s heartbreaking that we only needed a few additional votes to win, but at the same time I couldn”t be prouder of what Rachael and I accomplished.”
The ASUI senate-elect”s were also announced Wednesday night. ASUI Sens. Danny Bugingo, Mattie Cupps and Zachary Spence were re-elected alongside incoming senator-elects Rory Butcher, Sam Balas, Jordan Kizer, Nina Rydalch and Haleigh Sims-Douglas.
The ballot initiative, which proposed doing away with the mandatory 25 percent voter turnout, did not pass due to 23 percent voter turnout.
Karstetter said he is eager to begin his term as president and to start making improvements at the university.
“My next step is to hit the floor running,” Karstetter said. “I want to make sure that we fulfill the promises that we made to the student body. I honestly couldn”t be more excited.”
Botello said he knew the results of the race would be close, so he is happy to be done campaigning.
“Austin and I are so grateful for all of the support and we feel very accomplished, however, we know the really hard work is just about to begin,” Botello said.
As winners of the election made their way up to the ASUI office on the third floor of the Idaho Commons to celebrate with cake, Karstetter and Botello stuck around the rotunda to shake the hands of their peers and take in the excitement of the event.
“We really want to stress the transparency part of our platform, and make sure students feel they made the right choice in electing us,” Botello said. “We look forward to rolling up our sleeves and getting our hands dirty with all of the changes we are going to make.”
Jessica Gee can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @JessicaC_Gee