by Caleb Fort
Daily Lobo
Eight members of the RISE slate and two independent candidates were elected to the ASUNM Senate Wednesday.
Jeramie "Chewy" White, an incumbent, received 321 votes, the most of any candidate. He is excited about his next term, he said.
"I feel confident about being a senator again," he said. "Hopefully this year I can do even more than I did last year."
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White, who ran on the RISE slate, will celebrate his victory this weekend with other members of ASUNM, he said.
"I'm going to celebrate by throwing a little gathering," he said. "A little celebration with all the senators."
Fourteen candidates competed for 10 seats on the Senate. Ten senators are chosen in the Fall elections, and 10 senators, a president and a vice president are chosen in spring elections. All five incumbents who ran were re-elected.
Wellsley Loyd, an independent, got elected with 214 votes. It will be her first time as an ASUNM senator.
"I'm glad we're seeing some new faces on the Senate," she said. "I want the student body to feel like they're part of this campus."
Many students think ASUNM does not serve the student body well, she said.
"I talked to a lot of students today, and they feel like the Senate doesn't represent the student body equally," she said. "That's something that has to change."
Mariana Molina, another independent candidate, was not surprised or disappointed that she lost, she said.
"Personally, I didn't do much campaigning," she said. "Everyone else seemed to know exactly what they want. They were exceptional people, and I'm very happy for them."
Molina said the elections should be publicized more.
"I was concerned that not a lot of people knew there were elections being held," she said.
About 594 students voted, said Jessica Chynoweth, chairwoman of the elections commission.
Jeremy Foreman, an independent candidate who is a wheelchair user, said the campaigning process was not pleasant, because not all students were receptive.
"For hours I was taunted, bullied, harassed and made fun of," he said. "A group of guys pointed at me and copied all of my movements and called me a retard."
Foreman was not elected.
Matt Beck, who was elected with 284 votes, said he is excited about his first term as senator.
"A lot of hard work went into campaigning from me and everyone else on my slate, so I'm glad it paid off," he said.
Beck is going to try to organize more events focused on community service and volunteer work, such as Spring Storm, he said.
Volunteering is important for students, he said.
"I think that as college students, we're eventually going to be pretty influential people in our community," he said. "As such, it's important for us to give back to our community and make it a better place for everyone to live and work."
He was not surprised two people from his slate did not got elected, but he was happy with the results of the election, he said.
"It's kind of unrealistic to think that everyone from our slate would get elected and fill all 10 spots, but I'm happy for the eight of us that did," he said. "And I'm also really excited to work with the independents that got elected."
