McKenzie MacDonald and Catherine Yenne were named the ASUI president and vice president elects for the 2017-2018 academic year.
MacDonald and Yenne overcame opponents Michael Ryan and Haleigh Sims-Douglas by 75 votes.
MacDonald ran last year as a vice presidential candidate with Rachael Miller and lost by 25 votes to Austin Karstetter and Cruz Botello.
“Going through this campaign, I had a healthy respect for how much every vote really counts, so (Yenne) and I worked really hard to make sure that we were thinking about that throughout the process,” MacDonald said. “I think that mindset really paid off.”
McKenzie MacDonald hugs her running mate Catherine Yenne after winning the ASUI presidential election Wednesday night.
MacDonald said she thought having gone through the campaigning process before gave her a bit of an edge because she knew what to expect. She said she was able to look at last year’s strategies and figure out what worked versus what didn’t.
“I don’t know if I did anything really different, but I think just having that understanding was extremely helpful,” MacDonald said.
Yenne said MacDonald’s insight contributed to their campaign’s success, but believed it was their unique vision for the University of Idaho that set them apart and contributed the most to their triumph, as well as the support they received from friends and family.
“Her expertise, with sort of the logistics of it all, helped to expedite and improve our focus,” Yenne said. “I’m grateful we had that, and I’m also glad we were our own campaign as well.”
MacDonald and Yenne said they were eager to take on their new roles within ASUI and were looking forward to implementing change throughout campus.
The new ASUI senators were also announced Wednesday with re-elected ASUI Sens. Jordan Kizer, Zachary Spence, George Wood and Nina Rydalch, alongside incoming senator elects Audrey Lodge, Nicole Skinner, Clayton King and Jacob Lockhart.
Director of Student Involvement Shawn O’Neal said the voter turnout for the 2017 spring election was just under the previous year with about 22 percent.
O’Neal said nationally, most state universities of UI’s size or greater see percentages that range from 14 to 20 percent, whereas institutions of higher learning as a whole, including community colleges, cite a turnout of 4 percent.
“I don’t think a 22 percent voter turnout is anything to be proud of, but it’s what we have today and it’s better than the national average, so I’ll take it,” O’Neal said. “It could be better, but it could be worse.”
O’Neal said he was impressed with each of the presidential candidates’ campaign and their level of respect for one another.
“They seemed to recognize that there really wasn’t a wrong answer and that both parties on the ballot were going to be good for ASUI,” O’Neal said. “Haleigh Sims-Douglas and Mike Ryan are two of the most impressive people I’ve ever come across (at UI), and the fact that they ran and lost, I think says a lot about who won … They were all great candidates.”
Olivia Heersink can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @heersinkolivia