"UB Makes the ""Reasonable"" Choice"

Nerves ran high in 350 Student Union on Thursday evening as three parties awaited the results of the Student Association election.

Travis Nemmer was elected president - along with running-mate Adam Zimnicki, who will become vice president - earning 1,081 votes for the Reason Party. United Party candidates Judy Mai and Darwinson Valdez trailed close behind, earning just 47 votes less than their opponents.

Justin Neuwirt became treasurer with 1,102 votes, the only United Party member to take an executive board position. Reason Party candidate Ayyaz Tufail lost to Neuwirt by a mere 41 votes.

Three of the four SUNY delegate spots will be filled by Reason Party candidates - Mira Pandya (1,094 votes), Loren Fields (1,065 votes), and Jonathan Steffen (1,037 votes) will represent their party and the university in Albany. Liz Quinn, of the United Party, will join them; she earned 1,088 votes.

Nemmer was shocked that the Reason Party took the presidential victory.

"I honestly thought we got killed," Nemmer said. "I sat down with everyone earlier, and I was so dejected. But we came through. I thank each and every one of my supporters, especially Ayyaz; he really put his heart and soul into this, and I look forward to working with him next year. And I'm also looking forward to working with Justin."

Zimnicki, too, could not believe how close the race was, and he remains hopeful that both parties will continue to work together in the coming year.

"It was such a close race, and that proves that either candidate was liked by a vast majority of the population," Zimnicki said. "I have a lot of respect for Judy and Darwinson, and I hope in the future we will be able to work with them and bring SA back to what it needs to be. Let's make the students happy."

Zimnicki added that he's worked with Neuwirt throughout this year, and he is certain there will be no communication problems. Despite running with different parties, Zimnicki believes they will be able to reach a common ground and bring diverse ideas to SA.

Two parties have shared executive board spots in the past, but it's not common. In 2010, the Student Alliance Party and the ONE Party shared the top spots; in 2006, the UB Advocates beat the Progress Party by 10 votes for the presidential and vice presidential spots, but Progress took the treasurer's seat.

"[The win] is bittersweet," Neuwirt said. "I obviously wish I could have won with my party...we had plans to work together, but Adam and Travis had good things on their platform. We have to put elections behind us because when you have two different parties, you campaign hard against each other. But now that we're elected together, we're going to have to work together to do the job."

The race was close, and 2,576 students came out to the polls between Tuesday and Thursday - only 104 less than last year's turnout.

Even though Mai lost, she believes the election results are skewed because students just do not show up to vote. Less than 14 percent of undergraduate students voted.

"There's [over 19,000] students here, and only about 2,000 to 3,000 really vote," Mai said. "You can't really get a good majority of them out, and you can't blame them - they don't want to step in the Union; they're going to avoid it all costs. I wish more students knew about the election and came out, voted, and made informed decisions."

Ted DiRienzo ran with the MVP Party - a group of students who were not involved in SA - and was the clear underdog going into this week's race. But he still believes that earning 235 votes is a victory for his party.

"That's 235 more people than I thought was going to vote for me," DiRienzo said. "It's been so encouraging. This is the first time I ever really thought about campaigning. If I stay a fifth year, you'll definitely hear my name again."

Mai also plans to stay involved in SA - she said she loves the organization too much to not stay involved.

Nemmer, Zimnicki, and Neuwirt will soon start getting a taste for their new positions, while working to reconcile any differences.

But Nemmer, after an exhausting week of campaigns, only had one thought once the final tally was announced.

"I'm starving," Nemmer said. "I want some food - something Halal."

Email: news@ubspectrum.com