by Bryan Gibel
Daily Lobo
The REACH slate dominated the undergraduate student government elections on Wednesday, according to unofficial results provided by the ASUNM Elections Commission.
The official results will be released today at 5 p.m.
The slate won the presidency, the vice presidency and nine out of this year's 10 contested Senate seats.
Ashley Fate was elected president, getting 1,158 out of the 2,411 votes cast.
Matt Barnes was elected vice president, getting 1,139 of the 2,367 votes cast.
The newly elected REACH senators are Haylee Nelson, Jennifer Berg, Angelina Garduno, Jessica Anastasi, Nicoletta Di Vasto, Nick Geyer, Jessica Martin, Joey Dworak and Chris Huntsman.
The only non-REACH candidate elected was Alex Riebli, of the KEY slate.
None of the candidates for Senate were incumbents.
The newly elected candidates will begin work in the fall.
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Almost 1,000 more students voted in this election than in the one last spring.
The Elections Commission's unofficial count was 2,576 votes cast.
Fate said the high turnout was a sign of improving relations between ASUNM and the student body.
"I thought the voter turnout was great," she said. "It really showed that the students were concerned and really cared about this election and what was going on. They were really paying attention to the issues."
Katryn Fraher, presidential candidate with the PAC slate, said she was happy with the elections, despite her defeat.
"I may have lost, but this was a win for me," she said. "Not only did voter turnout go up, but students learned more about issues on campus."
Louis Jeantete, who ran for president with the KEY slate, said candidates' increased voter outreach this year was a step in the right direction.
"I was impressed with the forums and discussions we had during this campaign," he said. "I think they really opened up a lot of eyes of what ASUNM does, how students are involved and how students can make an impact."
Fate said the broad field of candidates and their strong campaign efforts made more students vote.
"This race was so successful because everybody got out and worked really hard," she said. "There were so many people running that we were able to reach out to a lot more demographics and really get a huge number of the students involved."
Fate said her slate's victory will allow her to pursue an ambitious agenda next semester, but she would also work with her opposition.
"Our goals are getting lighting on Johnson Field, increasing communication and outreach with the students and improving safety on campus," she said. "Once the elections are over, that's when you stop campaigning and become ASUNM, and that's what it's about."
