After two days of voting, the results of the Associated Students of California Lutheran University Executive Cabinet elections were announced Thursday, Feb. 22. Nick Steinwender was re-elected as ASCLU president, while the Senate director position will go to a runoff election March 6-7.

Programs Board remains in need of a candidate as the previous unopposed contender, Heather Hooker, was disqualified along with Senate director candidate Austin Truong “due to an infraction stated in the Executive Cabinet Election Packet that each candidate signed,” according to a press release.

The release said the candidates were disqualified through a majority vote by the elections committee, which includes Buonauro, Programs Board Director Samantha Schindler, two representatives from Programs Board and two from Senate.

Steinwender said that having already served a year in the position will make it easier to build off existing relationships and accomplish goals more quickly.

“I hope to continue representing the students and supporting them in any way that I can…ASCLUG will continue to push for a reduction in tuition and room and board rate increases from year to year, pushing for more transparency both in government and in the university and remaining fiscally responsible with student fee funding,” Steinwender stated in an email interview.

The candidates for Senate director are junior representative Alexis Ghattas and freshman representative Garrett Mueller.

Ghattas is an exercise science major with a minor in religion from Lancaster, California. This is her second year running for Senate director. She said she thinks she has the experience needed to be successful.

“I think that the three years I’ve been on Senate have really prepared me and helped me develop a passion for helping the students and being a resource and bridging the gap between the clubs and the senators,” Ghattas said.

Mueller is a political science major from Palm Desert, California. He said that his goal is to be a trusted advocate of students and a positive voice on campus.

“I really wanted to run because this is something I’ve never done before in high school. I had never been involved. I was always a very quiet shy person and going to Cal Lutheran and seeing the spirit and engagement of all the students and doing the things I did…it’s really motivated me to give back,” Mueller said.

There will be an information meeting in the ASCLUG office in the Student Union Feb. 28 at 5 p.m. for those interested in running for Programs Board director. Candidates must have at least two years of experience on ASCLUG.

Current Senate director Daniel Buonauro and chair of the ASCLUG’s election committee said that he thought all the candidates had potential this election.

“I think all of the candidates who ran could have been great in their respective positions. At the end of the day, it’s up to us as students to use our voices to decide who we want to represent us in student government,” Buonauro said in an email interview.

Buonauro stressed the importance of voting in the ASCLU Elections for Cal Lutheran students.

“Voting in ASCLU Elections may seem like a small matter, but these decisions affect the average student much more than what you would expect…Each student has a voice on who they would like to represent them, and it’s so important to utilize that,” Buonauro said.

For more information and to view the complete election results, visit the ASCLUG website or Facebook page.

Brooke Stanley
Reporter