The Student Government Association (SGA) elections concluded Wednesday afternoon and 1274 undergraduates cast their vote to fill next year’s positions. Matthew Lerman, President; George Koutsouradis, Vice President; Brenden O’Shea, Treasurer; Gianna Zaino, Secretary; and Hasani Council, Board of Trustees Student Representative have all been elected to their respective positions.
“It’s relieving that the whole election period is now over with, and I can now look forward to making the difference that I told students I was going to do,” Lerman said after the SGA meeting following the election’s close. “I’m looking forward to making changes where changes are [needed]. I want to improve the SGA and help better the student body.”
Lerman won the election for SGA President with 47.8 percent of the vote
After inconsistencies with the SGA statutes caused the elections to be postponed a week, less than 10 percent of Montclair State’s 16,336 undergraduates voted when the polls opened on April 6. Lerman edged his challenger, Juan Santana, by 86 votes in the closest race on the ballot. Lerman earned 609 votes for president, while Santana earned 523 votes and Jean Camacho earned 111 votes.
O’Shea was elected treasurer with 53 percent of the vote, while Joshua Bishop-Mbachu earned 42 percent of the vote and nearly 5 percent of voters chose to abstain.
O’Shea won the election for SGA Treasurer with 53.1 percent of the vote
“I was absolutely shocked,” O’Shea said. “I was close with the treasurer two years ago, and I just wanted to know how I can help organizations better. I worked for this for three years, and I really just want to help organizations.”
Zaino defeated her opponents, Wellington Gomez and Kelly Szczerkowski, to become secretary and totaled more votes than her challengers combined. Zaino tallied 617 votes, while Gomez earned 310 votes and Szczerkowski earned 278 votes. 69 voters chose to abstain.
Zaino won the election for SGA Secretary with 48.4 percent of the vote
Koutsouradis and Council ran unopposed and were elected to their positions with over 1000 votes each.
