In an election that brought out over 2,300 voters and more candidates than any recent Student Association contest has seen, UB Advocates president and vice president candidates Viqar Hussain and Leslie Meister won their respective positions by only 10 votes on Thursday.
Beating out the Progress party's Greg Stern and Marquis Whitmore, respectively, for the top to SA positions, the UB Advocates also took three of the four SUNY delegate positions this week, with party members Christopher Mendoza, Eliot Sherman and Melody Mercedes all winning seats on the Student Assembly.
Progress's treasurer candidate Peter Grollitsch and delegate candidate Rob Mercurio also won seats in next year's government, keeping the UB Advocates from a sweep like that of Elevation '05 last year.
A total of 2,347 students voted, up by 770 voters from last year's turnout in the three-day election held in the Student Union.
SA President-Elect Viqar Hussain said he was pleased with the results despite his narrow victory.
"We ran a clean race, and they (the Progress Party) ran a tough race," Hussain said. "The truth comes out in the end."
Acknowledging the mixed-party winners for next year's government, Hussain said that future work would have to be a team effort.
"We're going to have to work together," Hussain said. "Only together will we be able to support 17,000 undergrads...I won't be doing this stuff alone."
After the announcement, Progress party presidential candidate Greg Stern quickly left the SA offices, without initial comment. After supporters rallied around him, however, he made an impromptu speech on the third floor of the Student Union.
"Thank you all for your support," Stern began, followed by, "Let's just go get drunk."
After pausing for laughter, he continued, thanking his running mates and everyone who voted for his party.
Current SA President Dela Yador was among those surprised by the close results, but he believes such a thin margin it could have a positive impact on future elections.
"This race was definitely the closest that I've been involved with in four years," Yador said. "With this election, the student body got a real taste of the impact they can make."
UB Advocates delegate-elect Melody Mercedes is aware of the impact she can make in her position in next year's government.
"I'm looking forward to next year," Mercedes said. "It's unfortunate, we lost two of ours, but we still have two good candidates...and it's a good team."
Hussain and Meister won the president and vice president positions respectively with 1,017 votes. Grollitsch won the office of treasurer with 1,056 votes. Delegates-elect Mercedes (1,096 votes), Mendoza (1,069 votes), Mercurio (1,040 votes) and Sherman (1,009 votes) beat out five other candidates on total overall votes to win their positions.
