Matt Seidel is set to become Student Union president, and the New Deal slate he campaigned with swept student elections held last week.
Seidel, who emphasized personal accountability and has promised to restructure the Union since the campaigning period began March 28, beat out current Union Vice President and Team Union slate leader John Dallas Grant by 128 votes. Independent candidate Jeanne Mansfield picked up 307 votes, to Seidel’s 1376 and Grant’s 1248.
“The only time people see Union members shouldn’t be around elections,” Seidel said. “We need to be out there more, just talking. People want a message. They don’t want slogans; they don’t want cliches.”
Results were announced Friday, in a reception at the Photonics Center. Students were able to vote for Union candidates on the Student Link from Monday until noon Friday. Student Elections Commission Chairman Ashan Walpita said 3,069 students voted in the election – a “ballpark” average for Union races.
Paula Griffin secured the vice presidency with a 151 vote lead over Team Union candidate Daniel Horowitz. Alyssa Miller edged out Maggie Cox to claim secretary by 104 votes, and Michael Wurth is treasurer-elect, having claimed 95 more votes than Jared Reiter.
Seidel said he was headed to the George Sherman Union after celebratory hugs and handshakes to begin his duties as president.
“Right now, what I’m going to do, I’m going to buy a notebook. I’m going to go to the GSU and I’m going to start talking to students and ask what’s up,” he said. “We don’t have any time to lose.”
Grant said he will remain involved in the Union and will talk with Seidel about next year’s administration.
“Everyone ran a good race,” he said. “I think the student body should get excited”
New Deal slate candidates said they felt surprised to pick up every executive board office, running against a slate with an incumbent advantage.
“I was telling everyone I thought it was going to be a full Team Union slate,” Wurth said. “It was really competitive this year. I thought the votes were going to be far closer than that. I’m really excited. I was not expecting this at all.”
Miller said she was pleasantly stunned by the results and felt “fantastic.”
“Anything could have happened. I almost had no expectations when I came in here,” Miller said. “We worked really hard, but the other slate worked really hard too.”
“This was a great thing for the student body,” Union Technology Committee Chairman Jonathan Pasquale, a New Deal campaign staffer, said. “I think you’re going to see a complete tone change.”
Some Team Union supporters said the election had not engaged enough students in the process.
“People don’t really know enough about the issues or the candidates to really make a decision. I think more people should have gotten involved,” College of Arts and Sciences sophomore Emily Cody, a Team Union campaign staffer, said.
School of Management sophomore and Team Union supporter Stephanie Maas said she thinks the low voter turnout had something to do with the results.
“I think more people probably should have voted,” she said. “If more people knew about it, stuff would have changed.”