Vision Party swept all 50 Student Government on- and off-campus Senate seats after the two-day Fall election. Wednesday’s results mark the first time Vision faced another party at the polls in over a year, having run largely unopposed last cycle.
Its main competitor, Hope Party, lost all nine of the seats it was up for, and the election’s only independent, Matthew White, lost his bid for an off-campus seat.
Matthew Milton Bravo, the student body president, said he’s proud of Vision’s major win, and he hopes the new senators will continue the party’s legacy.
“I think our Senate’s leadership [is] really strong,” he said. ”I’m looking forward to seeing them grow and progress as leaders.”
A biannual tradition
About 8,900 students voted across eight different polling locations Tuesday and Wednesday, meaning about a quarter more students turned out this semester than in the Spring.
Candidates from both parties gathered at the Reitz Union Wednesday night for a result watch party, where supervisor of elections Makena Romero announced the results around 10 p.m.
Around 60 Vision Party members climbed on top of chairs to celebrate their victory, chanting “Vision” after each winner was announced. About ten Hope Party members started a counter-chant of the phrase “Stop the steal,” claiming Vision had committed election fraud.
Vision’s platform focused on enhancing dormitory facilities, improving campus health and safety measures and adding more student resources, such as legal aid for student renters.
Now, the student body will wait to see if the promised changes are implemented.
Hope Party reacts
Before the results were read, Hope submitted a 134-page complaint accusing Vision of election fraud, according to Hope Party ethics chair Tyler Sklar. The rest of the party’s members echoed these sentiments after the results were announced.
Kayla Arora, a 16-year-old education sciences sophomore and Hope party campaign staff member, cast doubt on the validity of the results. She accused Vision, which regularly amasses votes from sororities and fraternities, of bribing voters with incentives like involvement points.
“Vision rigged the vote,” Arora said.
But Makani Bugarin, a 19-year-old psychology sophomore and Hope Party vice president, said she remains hopeful about the party’s future.
As members wait for the Spring election cycle, the party will focus on growing its campaign, Bugarin said.
“There’s definitely a lot of hope,” she said. “I think we will be able to come back stronger, more organized, with more power and people in our ranks to help us.”
Contact Erica Dybas at edybas@alligator.org. Follow her on X @erica_dybas.
Contact Sofia Garcia at sofiagarcia@alligator.org. Follow her on X at @sconsuelogarcia.
Sofia Garcia is a first-year journalism and political science double major at UF and serving as the student government reporter for Fall 2026. This is her first semester at The Alligator. In her free time, she enjoys listening to music, playing video games, or connecting with her friends and family back home in Miami.
Erica Dybas is a first-year journalism major at UF and this Fall's Graduate School Reporter. This is her first semester at The Alligator. If she is not writing, you can find her reading, working out, or listening to punk music.
