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AN INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SERVING THE GW COMMUNITY SINCE 1904

The GW Hatchet

Serving the GW Community since 1904

The GW Hatchet

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Bergren wins EVP; Bennett, Narla proceed to run-off election

Junior Abby Bergren won the executive vice president title Thursday, but the top Student Association spot remains undecided as John Bennett and Ashwin Narla will proceed to run-off election next week.

In a packed Media and Public Affairs Building room, the Joint Elections Committee announced that no candidate for president passed the 40 percent threshold needed to avoid a run-off election.

Bergren received 45 percent of the vote, or 2005 votes, in the three-way race against Ben Leighton and Austin Brewster. Leighton garnered 39 percent of the vote while Brewster received 16 percent of the vote.

“When I decided to run, I said I was going to win,” Bergren said. “If I thought I was going to lose, I wouldn’t have entered the race.”

John Bennett
John Bennett celebrates after learning he led the first round of the SA presidential election with 36 percent of the vote. Francis Rivera | Assistant Photo Editor

But added that she was still in “shock.”

Bergren almost missed her announcement because of a class assignment. She was watching “Hair” in Betts Theatre but slipped out to ensure she was present for the results.

Bennett, who boasted the most supporters in the room, said he was expecting a run-off because of the five-person pool and will refocus efforts this week to seek endorsements from organizations whose chosen candidate failed to make it to the run-off.

“We have to get face time with the now undecided,” Bennett, the chair of the SA Senate finance committee, said.

Narla, a junior with no prior SA experience, said he was excited to be in the run-off, even if it meant another week with no sleep.

“It will be fun,” Narla said. “We’re going to keep going with the same intensity.”

Bennett and Narla earned 36 and 34 percent of the vote, respectively. Jeremy Iloulian got 13 percent of the vote and Will Thompson earned 12 percent of the vote. Ben Pincus garnered 5 percent of the vote.

Ashwin Narla
Junior Ashwin Narla reacts after the announcement that he will proceed to next week's runoff election for SA president. Narla was behind Bennett by only 2 percent. Elise Apelian | Hatchet Staff Photographer

In a win for the Joint Elections Committee, 15 percent more students cast a ballot in this year’s election – the highest in SA history. The 4,806 student who voted this year, trumped last year’s participation by more than 600 votes.

“We didn’t hide in our office this year,” JEC Chair Phil Gardner said, explaining that the boost came from active communication from both candidates and the committee.

Full results:
Winners in italics

Uncontested seat winners:
Graduate At-Large senators (vote total unannounced)
Jake Chervinsky
James Bonneau

CCAS graduate senator (vote totals unannounced)
Amanda Castroverde

SEAS graduate senator (vote total unannounced)
Will Rone

GSEHD senator (vote total unannounced)
Michael Amesquita

GW Law School senators (vote total unannounced)
Joe Yarbough
Meredith Dempsey
Elizabeth Barnes

Medical School graduate senators (vote total unannounced)
Robert Kickish
Jordan Werner

SPHHS undergraduate senator (vote total unannounced)
Alex Mizenko

Program Board chair (vote total unannounced)
Lauren Shenfeld

Program Board Vice Chair (vote total unannounced)
Bogdan Trach

Sophomore Class Council (vote total unannounced)
Nick Shah
Lee Seitz
Tessa Bay
Kirsten Fischl
Lexy Cory
Aamir Husain

Junior Class Council (vote total unannounced)
Dana Honor
Loren Chen
Kristin Kelleher
Kayley Sullivan

Senior Class Council (vote total unannounced)
Izack Nacheman
Aglaia Ovtchinnikova
Brittany Lee Garcia

Outdoor Smoking Ban Referendum
Yes  – 66.7 percent, 3285 votes
No  – 33.3 percent, 1639 votes

MCGB graduate governor
Gary Wong  376
Jason Weissler  361

MCGB undergraduate governors
John Richardson –  2147 votes
Ian T. Ceccarelli  – 1802 votes
Jordan V. Hill  – 1555 votes
Galen Petruso  – 1552 votes
Uchenna C. Nwokike  – 1460 votes

SEAS undergraduate senator
Neil Forquer  – 116 votes
Buddy Bernhard – 81 votes

SoB graduate senators
Greg Viola – 136 votes
Shashwat Gautam  – 105 votes
Sheldon Tomlinson  – 29 votes
Omar Khan  – 27 votes

ESIA graduate senator
Jonathan Kirk – 30 votes
Patrick Rizk – 11 votes

GW School of Business undergraduate senators
Tobey Wood  – 187 votes
Ryan Counihan  – 292 votes
Evan Kline  – 312 votes

ESIA undergraduate senators
William Castagna  – 328 votes
Peter Starkey  – 280 votes
Ross Rattanasena  – 334 votes
Alicia Rose  – 460 votes
Michael Morgan  – 336 votes

CCAS Undergraduate senators
Markus E. Batchelor –  1070 votes
Anthony Bucci III  – 967 votes
Omeed Firouzi  – 975 votes
Ian Shetron  – 987 votes
Daniel Egel-Weiss  – 1058 votes
Nicholas Gumas  – 974 votes
Yusuf Yilmaz  – 817 votes

Undergraduate At-Large senators
Elizabeth Kennedy  – 2106 votes
Justin Pennish  – 1092 votes
Hugo Scheckter – 1993 votes

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