On April 5, the results of the ASBSU elections that took place from April 3-4 were announced through email to BSU students. The elections used a ranked choice voting system.
A total of 1,778 students voted, which was 12.3% of the eligible voters.
The Stampede was running on a platform focused on mental health, parking and advising. While Believe in Boise State focused on mental health as well, their campaign included supporting diversity on campus and sexual assault awareness.
Isaac Celedon and Kate Perkes from The Stampede won President and Vice President with 1,113 votes, which was 68.7% of the votes. Celadon served as the Assembly Leader for part of the 2023-2024 academic year. Perkes is a freshman, and is new to ASBSU.
The Stampede’s platform is affordability, accessibility and meaningfulness. The Stampede wants to increase student involvement, reduce parking costs and improve dining. The Stampede also intends to have a more central advising model and improve advising. Additionally, they plan on publicizing locations, dates and agendas of meetings to incentivize student participation.
Ethan LaHaug from The Stampede won the election for AVP of Ethics Affairs with 1,208 votes, 77.6% of the votes cast for that position. The AVPEA is responsible for upholding Code and the Constitution, processing complaints about potential violations of Code or the Constitution, and implement changes to Code or regulations passed by the legislature.
LaHaug served as the Senate leader this year, and was one of the complainants in an ethics complaint filed against current President Cheyon Sheen and the former AVPEA Nathan Hoang. LaHaug wrote a significant portion of the current code and some of the Constitution passed last year. LaHaug is affiliated with Turning Point USA, a right wing organization that is hosting Dr. Scott Yenor to give a talk on “compulsory feminism” on campus. Yenor recently made international headlines for allegedly using university resources to organize a christian nationalist group.
Natalie Rivera from The Stampede won the election for AVP of Financial Affairs with 1,157 votes, 73.0% of the votes cast for that position. The AVPFA is the primary student representative and serves as the Chair for the Student Funding Board.
Natalie Rivera does not have previous experience in ASBSU, but ran on a platform that included simplifying the grant process. When asked how she planned to accomplish this during the elections debate, Riviera did not give specifics but said “I might not know how to do this, but I’m willing to learn.”
Nick Lloyd from The Stampede won the election for AVP of Academic Affairs with 1,125 votes, 70.5% of the votes cast for that position. The AVPAA is the student representative for academic affairs, chairs the Student Senate and serves as a student representative at the Faculty Senate.
Deigo Tapia, running unopposed from The Stampede, won the election for AVP of Inclusive Excellence with 1,412 votes, 92.3% of the votes cast for that position. Tapia served as the AVPIE the 2023-2024 academic year as well. The AVPIE is the primary representative for under-served student populations, and appoints six students from under-served student populations to the General Assembly.
Other positions such as Senators for the colleges were voted on as well. Students had the opportunity to vote for their student Senator for colleges they are affiliated with. Both the ballots and the results were sent out through email.
More information about the candidates can be found on their campaign social media or the elections page of ASBSU. Inauguration will take place at 4:30 on April 11, 2024.
