Video by Sunday Miller

Editor’s Note: Allec Brust and her running mate, Mareena Winchell, were previously employed for the Rocky Mountain Collegian. Brust was the former Collegian opinion editor, and Winchell was a former reporter for the Collegian arts and culture desk.

Emotions were high and milk was chugged as the Syron-Sullivan campaign celebrated the announcement that they will be the next presidential administration of the Associated Students of Colorado State University. 

With an election season that saw over 21 percent of the student body vote, Tristan Syron and his running mate Kevin Sullivan received 2,048 votes from students, officially electing them as the next student body president and vice president. The Aubrey-Roper campaign received 1,747 votes from the student body, while the Brust-Winchell campaign and the Epperson-Hill campaign earned 1,085 votes and 1,046 votes respectively.

The 6,524 votes cast this election season represents an increase of 3.23 percent from last year’s turnout , in which 5,454 votes were cast. 

Sunburned and tired from campaigning, Syron, the ASCSU president-Elect, said it was his campaign team that really won the election.

“I’m nothing, I’m nothing without them,” Syron said. “It’s got almost nothing to do with us. We just stood there.”

Sullivan, the ASCSU vice president-elect, said parking and informative registration are some of the administration’s priorities moving forward, and he joked that bringing back the old Snapchat is on the agenda as well.

Sullivan also credits the campaign’s success in part to his collaboration with Syron on passing the water bottle bill in the ASCSU Senate. The bill will fund the installation and retrofitting of new water bottle refilling stations in older buildings on campus.

Parking, increased access to a U+2 waiver and the creation of a bartering app to facilitate affordable student exchanges were some of the main policies central to the Syron-Sullivan platform.

Syron and Sullivan plan on making those policies and action the main priority in their executive roles.

Syron said the student needs for action and the campaign platform drove both the high turnout and the election results.

“We are so incredibly grateful for every vote … 21 percent is absolutely amazing, and it has nothing to do with us,” Syron said. “It is the students who realize that their expectations have been disregarded, and they saw a candidacy that said, ‘Hey, I see that every day and I’m trying to fix it.’”

Hailey Morton, the campaign manager for Syron-Sullivan, said she thinks Syron and Sullivan are both relatable and willing to put in the work for students.

“I think that one of the best things about this campaign was it wasn’t just words,” Morton said. “I think that, for a lot of students, that really resonated with them.

Morton also credited the high turnout to the success of the other campaigns. 

“I think all the campaigns did a really good job,” Morton said. “It was really diverse and I think that it’s really telling how much of the student body came out to vote this year how well the other campaigns did.”

Presidential candidate Liam Aubrey said he was impressed by the hard work Syron and Sullivan have put forth. 

“It is the students who realize that their expectations have been disregarded, and they saw a candidacy that said, ‘Hey, I see that every day and I’m trying to fix it.’” – Tristan Syron, ASCSU president-elect

“I have the utmost respect for Tristan and Kevin. They ran a great campaign,” Aubrey said. “I’m super impressed with their hard work and after getting to work alongside Tristan in ASCSU before, I’ve no doubt in my mind he’ll do a good job and I know he really does put the students first.”

Presidential candidate Allec Brust said she is proud of the campaign she ran with Mareena Winchell and is excited for the future. 

“I am very proud of the campaign that we ran,” Brust said. “At the end of the day, we’re still going to pursue our goals. We are still going to pursue everything that we said we were going to do as president and vice president in any other leadership role that we attain in the next year.”

Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates Jacob Epperson and Carter Hill could not be reached for a comment.

With 2,838 votes, Ben Amundson was elected Speaker of the Senate. Candidate Merall Sherif earned a total of 2,441 votes. 

Amundson said he credits the win to his supportive team and the people around him.

“It really could not have been done on my own, I have an awesome team around me,” Amundson said. “I fully intend this next year that Senate is going to be run in a way that voices are heard and that we represent the students in every way.”

Madison Araujo, Amundson’s campaign manager, said she believes Amundson will bring change to the Senate.

“I’m just really excited, we put a lot of work into it,” Araujo said. “I really do believe in him and in our campaign message. I think that good things will come out of him next year in Senate.”

Speaker of the Senate candidate and chair of the Woman’s Caucus Merall Sherif said she is excited to see what the future holds.

“I’m excited for (ASCSU) to continue to do good work and support students and continue to give back and serve on campus,” Sherif said. “I’m excited to see what the new administration is going to do and all the projects we can do to give back tangible solutions to students.”

Collegian reporter Natalia Sperry can be reached at news@collegian.com or on Twitter @Natalia_Sperry.