After over a week of debates, reported campaign violations and other controversies, the ASG presidential election came to a close this evening with a win for Sky Patterson and Emily Ash, according to the ASG election commission. The Weinberg juniors ran against SESP junior Justine Kim and sophomore Austin Gardner.
Sky and Em won with 49.2 percent of the vote, compared to 42.25 percent for Justine and Austin and 8.53 percent for no confidence. Turnout was 2,272 students – a major increase from last year's uncontested campaign but nowhere near 2016's turnout of 4,060, or over half the student body.
"We are so grateful to our friends and our supporters for the love they have given us over the last two weeks," Sky and Em said in an email statement. "It's not a secret that this election has been hard. We are so proud of our team and our campaign, and their support has meant so much to us. This victory belongs to them. We would like to thank everyone on campus for giving us this chance to make Northwestern a better place. We will not let you down."
Both Sky and Em have their share of ASG experience – Sky most recently as vice president for academics, and Em as vice president for public relations. They ran on a platform emphasizing that experience along with being "unafraid" to advocate for NU students. Their proposed policies focused on inclusion and inequity for students of color, low-income students and LGBTQ+ students; academic reform regarding course costs and CTECs; and university divestment from gun manufacturers. The campaign initially received two election policy violations for pre-campaign activities, but later had one overturned.
“This is an exciting time in someone’s life, and I want people to go after their goals, their dreams in an environment that isn’t holding them back for reasons like income or who they are,” Sky said about her goals at her campaign's launch party last week.
Editor's Note: This story will be updated with comments and more information as NBN receives them.
This story was updated at 6:41 p.m. with vote percentages and voter turnout. It was updated at 6:50 p.m. with comment from the Sky and Em campaign.