The new president and vice president of this year’s freshman class have officially been elected. This year’s election was quite unique, given that there were more candidates than usual and that both elections went into a run-off, which is when no sole candidate gets 51% of the vote, so another election with the two candidates with the most votes is held. The first round of voting was held mid-September and the run-off election occurred the following week.

The initial candidates for president were Erin Kingsbury, Lucine Linnemayer, Aaron Iguodala, Taylor Minnoy, and Semaj Dante, and were narrowed down to Kingsbury and Iguodala for the runoff election. The initial candidates for vice president were Khalen Loredo, Leila Behforouz, Gianna Binder, and Jonah Givens, and were narrowed down to Binder and Givens for the runoff election. Ultimately, Iguodala was elected president and Binder was elected vice president.

Two of the initial candidates, Erin Kingsbury and Khalen Loredo, spoke to the Centaurian about their campaign experiences.

What was your experience running for president/vice president?
Kingsbury: “It was really fun and I met a lot of people. It was disappointing to lose, but it was an exciting experience.”

Loredo: “My experience running for vice president was very time-constrained. The weekend before campaigning, we were notified of the budget and that we had three days, Monday through Wednesday, to campaign. An obvious approach included candy (which was approved by ASB first, of course) and a good platform. The weekend before, I drafted an Instagram post filled with details like who I was, what I was running for, and my goals. I also asked my friends if they wanted to help me with physical posters that I put up around school. During lunch, I spent my time mostly giving out candy and talking to students, and just ate lunch during nutrition. I dedicated time and money to that, which I don’t regret, and I feel like I campaigned well, even though I lost.”

What advice would you give to future candidates?

Kingsbury: “The biggest thing that caused me to lose, in my opinion, was the lack of accessibility to the voting poll. For future candidates, I would recommend passing around QR codes and, just in general, making [voting] more accessible to the public.”

Loredo: “To anyone running, ask yourself, do you know a bunch of people? Are you willing to talk to ones you’ve never talked to, only seen in the yearbook? You have to also have good publicity. Instagram is a great site to advertise posts, reels or stories, and merch, as well, is key. If you can get custom stickers, get them. People love free pens, candy, hair clips, etc. Posters, as well, around the school are very helpful. Some people might not have a huge circle of friends or social media. Looking around and seeing a bright paper catches peoples’ eyes as they do their daily trek. Ask yourself as well, how much time can you put into this effort, and what goals can you declare? Can you get the help of others? Students clamoring around you alone for free candy is not fun. Assistance in your endeavors will likely calm the situation. Sometimes you win, and it’s logical. Sometimes you lose, and it’s logical. Sometimes an outcome may seem illogical and that’s alright, because at the end of it, you worked hard. It’s not a fault of your own.”

Congratulations to all of this year’s candidates, with a special congratulations to this year’s newly elected freshman class president and vice president!