Tel Wittmer, junior in secondary education, won the primary election for student body president with 1410 votes, or 45.38 percent.
“As cliche as it sounds, it’s definitely been a team effort all the way,” Wittmer said. “Lane [Lundeen] and myself’s vision, our motto is ‘better together,’ and I think that’s definitely proven out here tonight.
“I’m just really grateful for all the hard work that everybody on our team’s put into this and again I don’t think this campaign has been about me or Lane, because our vision, again, has just been to create a dedicated network of individuals who want to make K-State a better place for everyone and I think that’s exactly what we’re going to do and I hope we can carry that momentum into the general election,” he said.
The second highest winner was Hannah Heatherman, junior in finance and organizational management, who received 1062 votes, or 34.18 percent. She will also move on to the general election.
“We’re really excited to be advancing to the general, we know that we have a great team, and excellent platforms that are going to advance the student body, regardless of position,” Heatherman said. “And we’re just so excited to continue working, continuing to present to student organizations, and being able to continue hearing stories of students who we know our platforms will benefit.
“We definitely have work to do, but we also know that we’re in good company from people who have been able to win the general after the primary and that excites and motivates our team,” she said. “And we look forward to overcoming any obstacles that lie ahead, but mainly we’re just excited to be in the company that we are and advancing forward.”
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With 358 votes, or 11.52 percent, Jacob Casey, junior in hospitality management and political science, will not move on to the next round.
“I am just so happy, and so relieved,'” Casey said. “It just makes me so happy, me and Morgan [Boyer] were texting and we just shouted at the top of our voice when we saw the results.
“My campaign didn’t have an intention to win, it set out to see what the process was like and to help other students see like, ‘Oh hey, you can get involved in SGA, even if you have no connection,'” he said. “We were literally afraid that, by some stroke of bad luck, we would get more votes than another person who was actually seriously running and put actual time and work into their campaign, so we’re so glad that we didn’t take away from them.”
The primary took place online over a 30-hour period from Tuesday at noon to Wednesday at 6 p.m.
The general election to select the student body president, Student Governing Association senators and other officials starts Tuesday, Feb. 25 at noon and closes Wednesday, Feb. 26 at 6 p.m.
