Students can look forward to another week of SG campaigning as two executive alliances prepare for a runoff election.

Because no campaign had the 51-percent majority the election code requires, the Natalie Butler and Ashley Baker alliance and the Abel Mulugheta and Sameer Desai alliance will participate in a runoff Thursday.

Butler and Baker received 3,907 votes, 48.6 percent of 8,036 total votes. Mulugheta and Desai received 34.7 percent of the votes.

Butler said her team is ready for the upcoming week and excited to push for the win.

“We knew this was a possibility, and we’ve been ready for it,” Butler said. “We’re going to have to work for it, but there is a huge margin between us and second place, and we feel good.”

Baker celebrated making it to the runoff with her aunts and cousins who drove from Fort Worth to support her.
“I believe in them, and I think they have an excellent platform,” said Baker’s aunt Ruth Baker. “48.6 percent isn’t easy to get, and we couldn’t be prouder of her and all she’s accomplished.”

Mulugheta said his campaign is prepared to double its efforts this upcoming week to “fight” for the necessary votes.

“We’re meeting tonight and every night after that until next Thursday,” he said. “We want to leave nothing under the table, and I think we can make believers out of enough people to come back.”

This is the second year in a row the executive alliance elections ended in a runoff. Last year, SG President Scott Parks’ team came in second to political communications and government senior Minator Azemi’s team in the first round of voting, but Parks won in the runoff.

In third place, Andrew Nash and Melanie Schwartz received 10.5 percent of the votes.

Nash said although things didn’t go their way in the elections, he plans to stay engaged in SG and with the campus through involvement in different programs.

“I’ll continue my involvement with the Union and summer orientations and keep giving back to the University in any way I can,” he said.

Nash said he wants to work on the start-of-semester Welcome Week and SG-sponsored fundraiser the Longhorn Run.

“Even though we didn’t win tonight, these programs are still important to the University, and I’m committed to making that happen next fall,” he said. “Whoever wins, I hope to see more events like Welcome Week that will build school spirit.”

Spencer Scorcelletti and Aaron West earned 286 votes, about 3.55 percent of the total. Travesty candidates David McQuary and Hannah Oley came in last place with 195 votes — 2.42 percent.