In what the ASUNM Elections Commission called a record voter turnout, UNM junior Noah Brooks was elected president of the Associated Students of UNM for the 2017-2018 school year.
Brooks, who currently serves on ASUNM Senate, garnered 757 votes, just 40 over runner-up Gabe Gallegos, current director of communications for ASUNM.
Brooks’ running mate, Sally Midani, was elected the vice president with 804 votes. The two ran on a platform focused on combating sexual assault on campus, streamlining the advisement process and providing free transportation to athletic events for students.
A record-breaking 2,400 undergraduate students made it to the polls, the highest student turnout since the spring elections of 2014, when 2,303 students voted.
“I’m going to jump right in,” Brooks said, “I’m going to make sure everything that we have and everything we do is for the students.”
Brooks praised his campaign team and dozens of volunteers that helped him along the way. Midani, a former ASUNM senator, said the election was the toughest she’d participated in, and she felt blessed that the student body believed in her.
“It did feel good to know there were a handful of really motivated, qualified people up against us,” Midani said. “I respect those individuals so much.”
Presidential candidates Justin Cooper and Elena Garcia received 493 votes and 436 votes, respectively.
Vice presidential candidates Sydnie O’Connell, Michael Landgraf, and Jonathan Sanchez earned 662, 458 and 435 votes respectively.
Though disappointed with the results, runner-up Gallegos said he was proud of the campaign he and his team ran, making sure to praise the victors.
“I can’t speak highly enough of Noah and Sally,” Gallegos said. “They’ll do an incredible job next year and lead our students.”
Shortly after the election, Brooks' and Midani’s slate, One UNM, tweeted their thoughts on the win, saying “we could not be more humbled” about their dual victory.
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“The outreach and support that we have felt over the last few weeks was more than we could have ever dreamed of,” the tweet read. “We can’t wait to get to work and truly make this university ONE UNM.”
Every Lobo — the slate that Gallegos and O’Connell belonged to — tweeted their congratulations to Brooks and Midani on the win, stating “We will always believe in the power of #EveryLobo to be the change.”
The election marked the first since ASUNM passed legislation in the fall splitting presidential and vice presidential elections from senatorial elections. Elections for ASUNM senate will be held in a few weeks, and those who were runners-up for these positions can still run for a senate seat.
It was Brooks and Midani who authored that legislation. At the time, the Daily Lobo reported on their hopes that the change to ASUNM election structure would lead to higher voter turnout, which has been stagnating in recent semesters.
The legislation seems to have succeeded in increasing voter turnout so far, and senatorial elections will take place in a few weeks.
Brendon Gray is a news reporter for the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at news@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @notgraybrendon.
