Election results:
- Kyle Erdman -
Tears formed in their eyes as ASWSU President-elect Kyle Erdman and Vice President-elect Derrick Skaug received news of their victory in the ASWSU election.
Current ASWSU President Riley Myklebust and Vice President Amanda Spalding delivered the news of Erdman and Skaug’s win to an election party at the Tau Kappa Epsilon (TKE) house. Everyone in attendance began a group hug, shouting “Congratulations” and “We’re so happy.” Erdman and Skaug won with more than 2,900 votes and gave speeches of love and thanks to those in attendance.
Erdman said TKE was the place where he first started asking Skaug questions about ASWSU and decided to get involved. In many ways, TKE was the birth of his campaign, he said.
“We just feel so grateful that students are putting that trust in us,"Skaug said,"and we’re going to work every day to prove that they made the right decision.”
Erdman said it was amazing to see how many students believed in the campaign. He felt excited and was ready to get to work. He and Skaug will not let the students down, he said.
During the party, Spalding shared her thoughts on the election results.
“I’m very proud of all the tickets for all the hard work they’ve put in,” she said. "But I’m very happy that our students will be represented by Derrick Skaug and Kyle Erdman next year. I’m proud to say the students will be represented in the best capacity that they can.”
Several hours before the news came, students arrived at the TKE house wearing their “Vote Erdman/Skaug” T-shirts. Erdman, current director of Student Life, and Skaug, current senate pro-tempore, walked around and thanked each individual for their support throughout the party.
Skaug said the support from all around campus has been great. He said the campaign was not about him and Erdman — it was about the students.
Skaug said he started the final voting day campaigning at bus stops to talk to off-campus students. He said after the bus stops he went to the Glenn Terrell Friendship Mall and campaigned until 7:55 p.m. when he left for the party.
Erdman said he sought out quiet places during the day to get away from the commotion. From those places he encouraged people to vote by phone call, text message and Facebook message.
As the party wound down, the two expressed how they were going to spend the remainder of the evening. Erdman said he was going to spend the time with loved ones. Skaug said he would be spending the night with friends and his bed.
“I want to sleep, finally,” Skaug said. “I haven’t had a good night’s sleep in a long time, so I’m going to rest. I’m going to start thinking about the future because we got a big task ahead of us.”
