Devaney/Woon sweep election

The Devaney/Woon slate claimed a commanding victory in the Associated Students of Portland State University (ASPSU) elections, winning the presidential race, sweeping nearly two-thirds of the student senate and stacking the Student Fee Committee with Devaney/Woon affiliated candidates.

President-elect Erin Devaney and Vice President-elect Molly Woon won by 299 votes, receiving 1,327 votes to Amanda Barron and Lindsay Craven’s 1,028, with 77 students not choosing a presidential candidate.

Every candidate associated with the Devaney/Woon slate won a seat. Nearly all candidates were affiliated with either the Barron/Craven or the Devaney/Woon slate.

"It was really the student and student groups speaking up and saying they want a change," Devaney said. "This is the first step."

The self-identified "progressive" candidates, Devaney and Woon had campaigned heavily on repairing what they perceive to be an increasingly antagonistic relationship between student government and student groups on campus. They have also said they want to better represent non-traditional and working students at Portland State.

The election, which had a record-high voter turnout, also made changes to the ASPSU constitution and instituted instant runoff voting for next year’s election. This year, a total of 2,432 students voted in the online election, a 21 percent increase over last year’s total of 1,999.

The announcement of results appeared to cool concerns earlier this week that the election could be cancelled or candidates could be disqualified due to numerous complaints about campaign conduct filed with the student Elections Committee.

Over the week, members of the Devaney/Woon slate were cited for such elections violations as posting campaign materials outside of agreed-upon areas, throwing a Tootsie Roll at an opposing candidate, and making threats about a candidate’s dog, which resulted in the disqualification of senate candidate Cassandra Fowler on Thursday.

The last of the complaints, most of which were filed by members of the Barron/Craven slate against the Devaney/Woon slate, were heard at a Elections Committee meeting Friday morning, with no further candidates being disqualified.

All 14 senate candidates associated with Devaney/Woon won a seat.

Fowler ranked eighth in the line up despite her disqualification, meaning that she received between 741 and 810 votes, though the amount of votes she received was blacked out on the official results. The remaining seven senators-elect hail from the Barron/Craven party. Ryan Klute, who received the most votes of the Barron/Craven senatorial candidates, finished 11th.

All four Devaney-Woon Student Fee Committee (SFC) candidates, Sa’eed Haji, Kayla Goldfarb, Mary Fletcher and Adas Lis, were elected. Independent candidate Mario Campbell received the fifth-most votes, winning the final seat.

Tina Cooper, who ran unopposed for SFC chair, received 1,666 votes, or 68 percent of the vote. According to Elections Committee Chair Ryan Schowen, her vote tally is a record high for the position.

Due to changes in the ASPSU Constitution, Senator-elect and SFC member-elect Kayla Goldfarb may only hold one position. It is not yet clear whether this means that Barron/Craven slate candidate Ryan Nelson, who received the most votes of the candidates that did not win a seat, may win a position after all.

In last year’s election, Christy Harper and Ryan Klute won the presidential and vice presidential seats by 45 votes, after a controversial cancellation of the election required that a second election be held during spring term.

The president, vice-president, and senators-elect take office May 1. Student Fee Committee members begin their terms July 1.