Aaron Rice won the election for Student Association attorney general Thursday in a runoff against Stuart Saulters, two days after JR Love won the race for president.
More than 1,000 students voted in the runoff election, and turnout was up 30 percent from last year in Tuesday’s election.
“I feel very humble right now,” Love, a junior political science major, said after hearing the results of the election in which he was pitted against senior communication major Keeyon Scott and senior human sciences major Tiffany Crawford.
Junior general business administration major T.C. Rollins was elected treasurer, and the senior class president elected was junior political science major Elisha Blades, who ran unopposed.
The other executive officers elected were Lee Weiskopf, a junior political science major, who ran unopposed for vice president, and Libbi Burns, a junior in food, nutrition, and health promotion, who was unopposed for secretary.
“We had a great turnout this year, and I think that’s a testament to our efforts,” current President Jon David Cole said. “I know that next year’s administration will be great,” he said.
This year, 2,092 votes were counted, which is an increase from last year’s number of 1,520 votes, and everything went well with the process, Broocks said.
Students also voted on and passed two ballot initiatives that reduce the size of the Senate. These bills had passed the Senate but were included on the ballots because they had to be voted on by the students to become part of the Constitution.
Broocks said voter turnout is higher this year because of the extensive coverage by the media and the fact that more time was allowed for campaigning this year.
Also, the Student Association began using online voting last year, and they had to get used to it. This year the voting process went smoother so that lines were not as long as last year and waiting time was much shorter, Broocks said.
Broocks said he is excited about the upcoming year.
“The current administration is preparing transition reports to hand to the new executive officers,” he said.
He said he also believes the new candidates are the best people for the job.
“If they weren’t qualified, they wouldn’t have been elected,” Broocks said.
Cole said the new officers are highly qualified, very passionate, and they all have a great love for Mississippi State.
“This is going to be a great year for the Student Association; I have got so much faith in the newly elected executive officers,” Cole said.
“I understand we had a better turn out than we did last year, which is always a good thing. And I look forward to working with all the officers,” MSU vice president for student affairs Bill Kibler said.
Executive officers will be innaugarated at the Student Association banquet March 21.