Out of 2,260 votes cast — 12.45 percent of the Fresno State student population — Menchaca earned 910, closely followed by Bertoni at 873 and De La Cruz at 754. Menchaca received 35.87 percent of this year’s vote, in comparison to last year’s presidential election when he received 47 percent of the votes.
In a campaign that was largely geared towards maintaining consistency in student body representation, Menchaca said it was “exciting to see that I’ll be able to continue another year and continue to do all the great things ASI has been able to do this year.”
Bertoni said although he lost the election, he was “happy with the outcome” of losing by only 37 votes.
“It is definitely a respectable defeat and testament to the people I had in my corner supporting me, especially going up against the incumbent,” Bertoni said.
As a sophomore, Bertoni said he has plans to still stay involved with ASI in the future.
“The title of ASI president isn’t the only place you can serve students and make a difference,” he said.
De La Cruz, a graduate student in Spanish, said despite the defeat she was comforted by how close the results were, especially with this year being her first attempt at being elected for ASI.
With part of De La Cruz’s campaign being about the status of minority groups on campus, her message to Menchaca was to “focus on different types of students on campus too and not have a bias towards a certain type of group.”
“I really see the need for Latino students, because I’m from that community, to participate and be more active on campus, especially in ASI,” De La Cruz said.
Looking forward to his second term, Menchaca said he does plan to address “some of the areas the other candidates [Bertoni and De Le Cruz] addressed as some concerns.”
“Essentially, we’re not Lizbeth’s students of Jared’s students or my students, we’re Fresno State students,” Menchaca said. “Being able to work together will make Fresno State a better environment for students in general.”
Also announced was the election of Anthony Farnesi as vice president of finance, Kiranjit Dhanjan as vice president of external affairs, the senators for each college and the senators at large.
The voter turnout of 12.45 percent was a significant increase from last year’s turnout of 9.43 percent, in which only 1,912 votes were casted. ASI coordinator Tara Powers-Mead said she believed the improved participation was because of a newly introduced randomization of candidate position on the ballot, as well as the fact more candidates were running for election.
“In general all the elections were very close, and a lot of it has to do with the randomization of the ballot,” Powers-Mead said. “This was the first year we’ve ever implemented the random order to the ballot, and I was pleased to see, especially in the senator at large section, that it was very competitive regardless of their rank on the ballot.”
In last year’s election, candidates drew numbers to decide the rank order of the ballot, meaning the order was already decided before the election.
In the vice presidential races, Dhanjan ran unopposed while Farnesi narrowly beat opponent Nicole Warmerdam by 107 votes. Farnesi earned 1,268 votes to Warmerdam’s 1,161 votes.
Farnesi said his campaigning was crucial for the win, acknowledging how close the election with Warmerdam became.
“It was obviously beneficial that I went through those extra efforts,” Farnesi said. “When you’re doing it you don’t realize and you kind of feel like you’re wasting your time, but then they come down to close votes like that.”
A senator at large for the past year, Farnesi said his experiences serving on the finance committee and working closely with Rebecca Rosengarten, the current vice president of finance, has been constructive, first-hand preparation for his new postion.
Dhanjan said she was humbled and “excited to move on” from her current senator at large role into the new position. Having worked with Sean Kiernan, the current vice president of external affairs, in past lobbying efforts, she said, “I know how to approach certain issues that are pertaining to the California State University.”
Some of Dhanjan’s plans are to improve the network between students and the alumni association and continue the 2012 idea of installing a polling booth in the USU for the upcoming congressional election in November.
Menchaca said with re-election he hopes to maintain a smooth transition when the new senators begin their roles by assisting them move “forward to be leaders of the organization” and help out “any way I can with my ASI knowledge.”
Additionally, Menchaca hopes to continue some of the same programs implemented in the past year, such as the Homecoming Pep Rally and the Central Valley Student Leadership Conference.
The online election was open from Tuesday 9 a.m. until noon Thursday. The League of Women Voters then tallied the results.
ASI Election Results
EXECUTIVES:
President: Moses Menchaca
Vice President of Finance: Anthony Farnesi
Vice President of External Affairs: Kiranjit Dhanjan
COLLEGE/SCHOOL SENATORS:
Arts and Humanities: Daniel Townsend
Craig School of Business: Kaitlyn Sims
Health and Human Services: no candidates
Jordan College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology: Sarena Silva
Kremen School of Education: Felicity Troupe
Lyles College of Engineering: Ezra Nathaniel Rodriguez
Science and Mathematics: Tyler Wilson
Social Sciences: Levi Landon
SENATORS AT LARGE:
Desmond Brown
Zachary Contreras
Amanpreet Gill
Abigail Hudson
Simone Leighty
Gage Marchini
Maria Ramirez
Kelsy Smith
