Criminology and criminal justice sophomore Joseph Grossman has been elected the next president of ASASUD, defeating journalism sophomore Andres Cano and nutrition freshman Diana Inzunza in the special election held April 14 and 15.
Grossman and running mate David Bakardjiev, also a criminology and criminal justice sophomore, received 211 of 397 votes, just over the necessary 51 percent required to avoid a run-off election. Cano and received 154 votes and Inzunza earned 32.
“I’m the glad the students’ voices were heard,” Grossman said. “Everything ended up great … and I’m ready to do work.”
Grossman said throughout his campaign that his major concern while in office will be controlling the tuition increases ASU has seen over the past seven years. However, there are other issues that affect the Downtown campus that students have voiced concern about, including more Maroon & Gold Dollar options, lowering student fees and increasing student involvement in ASASUD.
“There’s a lot that needs to be done,” Grossman said.
One thing Grossman said he would work on immediately upon taking office is simplifying the election process, specifically from the candidates’ perspectives. During normally scheduled elections over the past two years, two campaigns have been disqualified – Grossman’s this year, which was later overturned by the Judicial Board – and Cano’s ticket last year.
“There’s a lot of room for improvement,” Grossman said. “It shouldn’t be a pain in the ass to run for student office.”
Grossman’s main strategy in campaigning was talking and handing out fliers to students on Taylor Mall when they passed. Grossman said he personally spent more than 80 hours on Taylor Mall during the campaign, and he said he believed this method was more effective than calling and email students.
Grossman said he thought the student body appreciated being able to see and talk to a presidential candidate.
Cano, who ran for president last year and was disqualified after earning a majority of the vote, released a statement congratulating Grossman on his victory.
“The voters have spoken and they have spoken clearly,” Cano said. “Today is a time to celebrate. We need to move forward with making ASASUD the best it can possibly be next year.”
Inzunza also congratulated Grossman and Bakardjiev.
“I wish them the best and I hope they take every opportunity to help our campus,” Inzunza said.
Director of Administration and Elections Committee chair Rheya Spigner said running this election was an extremely long process and that everyone involved worked tremendously hard to ensure its success.
“We’re happy that all our hard work has paid off,” Spigner said.
Several students emailed ASASUD in regards to being unable to vote, but Spigner said most of the technical issues that plagued the last election were resolved for the special election. Steps were taken to allow students who emailed ASASUD about voting difficulties the opportunity to vote, Spigner said.
Eight senators elected into office
Results of the senatorial elections were also released by ASASUD. Cecilio Porras and Joseph Amonett, both criminology and criminal justice sophomores, each won a Senate seat representing the College of Public Programs, the only senator race that was contested. Both received 16 votes while Shannon Langford, who served as a senator for University College during the 2009-2010 academic year, received three votes. Twenty-six voters, or 43 percent, abstained from voting for any College of Public Programs candidate.
Vivian Padilla, a journalism freshman currently serving ASASUD as a freshman senator, was elected to represent the Walter Cronkite School with 97 votes. Torunn Sinclair, also a journalism freshman, was elected to serve the Cronkite School as a write-in candidate with 33 votes.
Zach Lindsay and Erika Vera, a health sciences freshman, were elected to represent the College of Nursing and Health Innovation, with 71 and 16 votes respectively. Vera is currently a senator representing University College.
Nutrition freshman Ashley Ryder and journalism freshman Anna Gunderson have both been elected as senators representing Barrett, the Honors College, with 26 and 17 votes respectively.
The results of the original ASASUD election held on April 5 and 6 have not been made known to the public.
Contact the reporter at connor.radnovich@asu.edu
Dustin Volz contributed reporting.
