The students of UW-Milwaukee elected Mike Sportiello to be the president of the Student Association at UWM for the 2015-16 school year. The results show that Sportiello won with 20 percent more votes than the incumbent president Ryan Sorenson.
“I’m am sad that the outcome didn’t come out in our favor,” Sorenson said in a statement to the UWM Post. “However, I wish president elect Sportiello the best of luck. I know he will be a great representative for UWM and the students.”
The voter turnout for this year’s election was around 5 percent of the student body, with 1,336 ballots cast. That number is nearly identical to voter turnout in last year’s SA election.
The presidency was the most competitive seat, and results are as follows:
Mike Sportiello elected – 56%
Ryan Sorenson – 36%
Franco Ferrante – 6%
Evan Braun, candidate for vice-president of student affairs, and Brandi Hernandez, candidate for vice-president of academic affairs, both ran unopposed and claimed their seats with over 90 percent of the vote.
Another hot competition was for the 10 seats for the at-large senators, which had 16 candidates on the ballot. The winners are the following:
Biltu Hamda, Michelle Amidzich, Yoselin Colorado, Trevor Jung, Morgan Paradis, Lindsey Wavrunek, Kristen Lango, Morgan Smeaton, Sandra Mendez, and Paul Garni.
Maya McCarthy-Neal was the winner of a write in campaign for the uncontended Women’s Advocacy Senator, with 32 percent of the votes .
The race for Peck School of the Arts senator between Brian Erdrich and Molly Keifer was the only competition in the election for a seat in a school or advocacy senate position. Brian Erdrich won with 63 percent of the vote. All other school and advocacy senate positions were elected to unopposed candidates.
The results show that there are 12 seats that still remain open. Those seats are:
School of Education Senator, Lubar School of Business Senator (2 seats available), Helen Bader School of Social Welfare Senator, College of Health Sciences Senator, Graduate School Senator (2 positions available), School of Architecture & Urban Planning Senator, College of Nursing Senator, Non-Traditional Student Advocacy Senator, Graduate Student Advocacy Senator, and Students with Disabilities Advocacy Senator.
Read the full result of the elections here.