Students will have to wait until next Thursday to find out who the next Associated Students Inc. (ASI) president will be, because no presidential candidate received 51 percent of the votes in this past week’s elections.
A run-off election will take place Tuesday and Wednesday to determine whether incumbent ASI President Shefali Mistry or candidate Mark Andrews will be the next president.
Matt Hubbard, Andrews’ campaign manager, said he was not shocked to find out Andrews and Mistry would be in a run-off race.
“I expected it,” Hubbard said. “With four candidates, it’s hard to clinch 51 percent.”
Nadine Henley, a sociology major and friend of Mistry, was there to show support. She said she helped Mistry in the weeks leading up to the election.
“It has been stressful helping a friend,” Henley said.
Andrews said he was unfazed by the results.
“It feels good,” Andrews said. “We’ve got one more week.”
Mistry showed more concern. “I’m OK. I’m not surprised; just a little nervous but still optimistic,” she said.
This is the second year Mistry will be involved in a run-off vote for the ASI presidency. Students voted down a measure last year that would have eliminated the need for a separate run-off election.
Lucy Montano collected 56.3 percent of the votes to become the new vice president; Shelena McClinton received 53.5 percent of the votes to become the new treasurer.
Before hearing the results, McClinton was visibly nervous and told a friend she felt like she was going to have a heart attack. After the results were announced, McClinton cried and got on the phone to spread the good news.
“I’m really surprised to get it in one shot. I was expecting a run-off,” McClinton said.
The election drew 1,852 voters – 5.4 percent of the CSU Mentor’s enrollment count for Cal State Long Beach.
Several students around campus, however, were uninterested and therefore did not vote. Josh Dobbs, a political science major, was one of them and said he does not care.
“It’s school elections,” Dobbs said. “Who cares?”
Marcus Bockman, a journalism major, did not vote, either.
“I wasn’t impressed with anyone at the debate,” Bockman said. “It doesn’t feel like they’re going to have an impact on the school.”
