After a battle of chomps and cheers, Impact Party took the majority of seats up for grabs in the Student Government elections Wednesday night.
Despite Access Party’s success in the Spring elections, it was newly founded Impact that took 34 seats compared to Access Party’s 16 seats.
A total of 10,229 students voted, with 6,427 ballots cast the first day of elections and 3,802 ballots cast Wednesday. Last Fall saw a record-low turnout, with only 6,733 ballots cast over the course of two days.
Wednesday was the culmination of a contentious election season, vastly different from last Fall when the unopposed Swamp Party took 49 of the 50 Senate seats, and Spring 2014’s election when Swamp took all 50 seats with 7,919 ballots cast. Swamp was not present in this election.
Impact took all but one district, sweeping 24 of 37 off-campus residential seats. Access took all of District D, the homes in ZIP code 32608, holding on to 13 seats.
Impact took 10 of the 13 on-campus residential seats while Access clung to Hume, Murphree and Tolbert Hall seats.
Both parties were reprimanded for complaints, with each party submitting three complaints against the other during a meeting Monday night at the UF Levin College of Law. Access was reprimanded for a published BuzzFeed article, which explained campaign questions, because it was not registered as campaign material, according to Election Commissions Chair Joshua Gehres. Impact was reprimanded for campaigning before Sept. 1, the official beginning of elections.
Five election complaints were received Wednesday. These will be heard Friday at 8 a.m. in the law school by Gehres and the rest of the election commission.
Access supporters arrived in a crowd just after 9:30 p.m. In a sea of blue, about 40 supporters came together with Mango, a 1-year-old fluffy white Samoyed dog, in tow. When Impact arrived just before the announcement of elections, it became a war of chants — Access’s "Blue" against Impact’s "Orange" — with Impact supporters hoisting a 9-month-old orange Pomeranian, named Luke, in the air.
"We have a lot of sweaty tired people out here," said Access spokesman Michael Christ amid chants and Gator Chomps before the results. "We’re ready for results."
"I’m not a betting man. I’ll leave it to the polls," Christ said.
Impact spokesman Chris Boyett felt the election results would be positive.
"No matter what happens," he said, "we’re going to do great work on campus."
And for Impact, they were — even if some seats were won by a narrow margin.
"One vote, one vote," chanted Impact members, jumping up and down as they celebrated winning the Keys Residential Complex seat by one vote.
Impact campaign manager Blake Murphy said he wasn’t surprised by the results.
"The next step is going to reach across the aisle to start figuring out our projects to compromise so we can get back to work," he said.
Access members hugged and wiped away tears, comforting each other.
Christ said the party will continue to work for change.
"As you’ve seen all throughout history, change comes slowly, but it does come," he said.
Yet, despite the tears from her party members, Access President Kalyani Hawaldar was still enveloped in a hug by Murphy and Impact founder Susan Webster after results were announced.
Hawaldar said Access will come back bigger and better in Spring.
"It doesn’t matter whether we win seats or we lose seats," Hawaldar said. "It’s all worth it."
Staff Writers Caitlin Ostroff, Ariana Figueroa, Emily Cochrane, Brooke Baitinger and Alyssa Fisher contributed to this report.
Beaty TowersAnna Bensoussan - Impact
Broward
Jackie Phillips - Impact
District A - 10 seats
Austin Champoux - Impact
Haley Smith - Impact
Jenny Clements - Impact
Carter Long - Impact
Smith Meyers - Impact
Kylie Werk - Impact
Jason Richards - Impact
Susan Webster - Impact
Ben Weiner - Impact
Max Klein - Impact
District B - 7 seats
Jacob Halloway - Impact
Avery Smith - Impact
Jake Felder - Impact
Briggs Noun - Impact
Sean Titus - Impact
Wilson Trawick - Impact
Will Worth - Impact
District C - 6 seats
Anthony Close - Impact
Jordan Folkes - Impact
Dakota Stanford - Impact
Kailey Kynast - Impact
Octavious Buiey - Impact
Roshelle Twymon - Impact
District D - 13 seats
Anthony J. Black - Access
Jessica Valdez - Access
Pinal Patel - Access
Yen Le - Access
Hurara Khan - Access
Dwayne Fletcher - Access
Lillian Rozsa - Access
Donald (DJ) Fontenot - Access
Yuchen Wang - Access
Praveen Varanasi - Access
Brittany Munyer - Access
Ricardo Sabater - Access
Margaret Patterson - Access
District E
Taylor Kennedy - Impact
Family Housing
Nicki Baldwin - Impact
Graham Area
Sara Daou - Impact
Hume Area
Preston Jones - Access
Jennings Area
Wayne Selogy - Impact
Keys Residential Complex
Cole Gabriel - Impact
Lakeside Residential Complex
Omarely Spence - Impact
Murphree Area
Jasmine Haddaway - Access
Rawlings Area
Emily Robb - Impact
Reid-Yulee-Mallory Area
Sara Goff - Impact
Springs Residential Complex
Zach Kravetz - Impact
Tolbert Area
Kevin Rivera - Access
Impact Party candidates and supporters celebrate after winning 34 out of 50 senate seats at the Fall 2015 Senate elections Sept. 30, 2015.
Impact Party walks into the Reitz breezeway shouting “I-M-P-A-C-T, Impact is for you and me.”
Cole Gabriel, an Impact senator, celebrates after learning he won the Keys Residential Complex Senate seat by one vote.
Access Party members link arms and hold hands as they wait for results Wednesday night.
Impact Party campaign manager, Blake Murphy (left), and Impact Party co-founder Susan Webster (right) embrace Access Party President Kalyani Hawaldar after hearing the results of the Fall Senate elections.
