With balloons, campaign signs and an air of anticipation, Student Government candidates and onlookers awaited the results of the 2014 SGA election.

That anticipation was quenched with the announcement of the winners — Matthew Conklin for president and Brandon Baltzell for vice president. 

Brianna Kitchings, current SGA vice president and election commissioner, read the results after commenting on how clean this year’s election was.

“I was prepared for the worst and I got the best,” she said. Last year’s election was marked by many infractions and sanctions.

The election was not only free of sanctions — it was also close. Conklin and Baltzell won by only 52 votes — 414 to 362. 

The senate race was also split. Common Challenge, the ticket led by presidential candidate Justin Dugan and his running mate Shannon Glover, won 12 senate seats to Conklin Baltzell’s 10.

Conklin said the he was happy with the results and that the close race was “humbling.”

“I think I still feel in shock, honestly,” he said. “Still waiting for it to set in. I very humbled, especially by looking at the numbers.”

Conklin and Baltzell also said they look forward to working with members of the other party.

“I think Brandon and I are happy to work with [them],” Conklin said. “I think we have the benefit of both parties having similar ideas.”

Current SGA President Darren Beckham was happy with the level of competition and legitimacy of the candidates as well.

“What we saw this year in this election was a valiant effort on the part of both parties,” Beckham said. “They were all serious candidates.”

One thing Beckham was not happy about was the turnout. There were fewer voters this year than last year and it cost SGA a new constitutional amendment. It would have been the first in nearly 10 years.

The amendments would have expanded SGA’s representation, but didn’t pass because they required a turnout of 7 percent of the student population as of the fall semester of 2013.

Although the amendments had overwhelming support — 589 voted yes to 122 who either preferred not to answer or voted no — the overall turnout did not reach the minimum amount.

The total number of votes for SGA president candidates were down 133 votes from last year.

“I think it’s an ongoing problem in student government,” Beckham said. “We’re facing student apathy — student disengagement. What [SGA] needs to do is operate credibly…provide new services to the student body and make sure that it is making itself known on campus.”

Conklin and Baltzell said they hope to improve campus through their campaign of service, advocacy and inclusion.

“We are dedicated to following through on everything we said during the campaign,” Conklin said. “We see room for improvement in student government.”

Conklin and Baltzell and the newly elected senators will be sworn in as the new chapter of SGA this summer. In the meantime, Conklin and Baltzell said they will be speaking with campus organizations and officials to begin developing plans for next semester. 

Presidential candidate Justin Dugan declined to comment.

Here are the new senators:

Business Senator

Michael Schultz (Common Challenge)

Education Senator

Michaela Liebst (Common Challenge)

Engineering Senator

Nathan Lohkamp (Conklin Baltzell)

Fine Arts Senator

Nolan Badgett (Common Challenge)

Health Professions Senator

Maha Madi (Conklin Baltzell)

Liberal Arts Senators

Kayla Basham (Common Challenge)

Allison Gettings (Conklin Baltzell)

Amber Sevart (Conklin Baltzell)

Kaitlin Nance (Common Challenge)

At Large Senators

Tyler Gegen (Common Challenge)

Jade Baker (Common Challenge)

Shelby Grosch (Common Challenge)

Jonathan Dennill (Conklin Baltzell)

Dalton Glasscock (Conklin Baltzell)

Tram Ngo (Conklin Baltzell)

Nick French (Common Challenge)

Mariah Smith (Common Challenge)

Amanda Johnson (Conklin Baltzell)

Austin Shelby (Common Challenge)

Ali Raza (Common Challenge)

Sarah Nelson (Conklin Baltzell)

Marcy Urban (Conklin Baltzell)

Graduate Senator

No names on ballot