Hadley Bodell
Editor in Chief
Everyone involved with the student government at ISU can finally breathe a sigh of relief as the results of the election were officially announced on Friday, March 21st. Each college receives two seats in the Senate, meaning the two candidates with the most votes win. However, the most highly anticipated election was the executive ticket for the presidency and vice presidency.
In the weeks leading up to the election, both The Bengals Den Party and The Bengal Spirit Party made valiant efforts to persuade voters with their campaigns. Presidential candidate Franklin Spicer and his Vice, Gracie Funk, used their social media presence to promote their party. Videos played on the Student Union Building TVs and ISU students were bombarded with emails all throughout March urging them to vote.
Students could vote online through the MyISU portal for their respective college senators, while every student was eligible to vote on the executive ticket. The official election results brief, posted by ASISU on Instagram, cited 1,644 total voters.
Once voting closed on March 21st, the Elections Commission counted the votes. The group comprised Elections Commissioner Kyle Price, ASISU Deputy Election Commissioner Josh McCubbin, current ASISU Secretary Eliana Madison, and Dean of Students Matt Daily.
Members of the Elections Commission confirmed that while they did a physical count to verify the election results, the initial counting was digitally completed by the IT Department. They received the data after it had gone through IT in a closed system only they had access to. This process ensured no technological error or human error occurred.
The Bengal Spirit Party now has more seats in the Senate, winning 8 out of the 14 seats. The College of Technology is the only college with both seats going to members of The Bengals Den Party: Krissy Feitas and Hannah Van Metre.
Colleges like the College of Science and Engineering voted in two members of The Bengal Spirit Party: Diya Pandey and Saugat Acharya, as well as the senatorial seats for Health Professions going to Aidan Hall and Prajakta Sharma.
The presidential win went to The Bengal Spirit Party: Sky Halter and Charles Medema with a whopping 410 votes. The opposing party garnered 285 votes. While these results weren’t a slim margin, this didn’t stop The Bengals Den Party from speaking up.
Price had already signed the verification of the 2025 Election results when members of the Bengals Den Party began contacting the Commission, claiming the results were invalid.
The Bengals Den party was so confident in their campaign that they simply didn’t believe a loss was feasible. Over the week of ISU’s Spring Break, March 24-28, members of the Elections Commission tell us that Spicer contacted them over email multiple times requesting a recount.
They claimed the voting numbers raised many concerns, considering the amount of time their team put into campaigning as opposed to the other party having “little to no campaign presence–no participation in debates, minimal social media activity, and little known involvement in student life” according to Spicer.
Perhaps The Bengal Spirit Party had less social media presence in the weeks leading up to the election. However, they have fostered friendly and positive relationships with everyone they meet on campus. While student governments tend to rely on popularity for elections, personal connections with the voters themselves have proven to go a long way.
On top of this, the losing party also claimed Halter and his party utilized the ASISU booking account to reserve tables and rooms for campaign-related events during the voting week. While use of this account would give one party an unfair advantage, nothing of the sort occurred.
The Elections Commission gave a lengthy response detailing the error-proof voting and counting process. A screenshot of the total votes was included for Spicer to review. Despite this, The Bengals Den Party continued to push with complaints and invalid claims. Explaining the senatorial candidates’ backgrounds and campaign efforts again to the Elections Commission will not change the validated results nor the voice of the student body, but that didn’t stop this party from trying.
A recount was conducted, members of the Elections Commission counting each vote by hand. Halter and Medema won fair and square, twice-confirmed. Spicer has not been seen in classes since Spring Break, though students have cited seeing him on campus.
Other winners included Paige Little and Silas Smith for the College of Education, Rakesh Itani and Farhana Hibbert for Graduate Studies, CJ Lopez and Robert Saunders for the College of Business, and Denis Arturo Vargas Barvosa and Bryson King for the College of Arts and Letters.
With the results finally being accepted by the now quiet Bengals Den Party, Halter and Medema look forward to making a difference at ISU as president and vice president of ASISU.
“I’m working on getting easier club access for new students and easier promotion of clubs/events for club executives with a new dedicated ISU Clubs website,” said Halter, a sophomore marketing student minoring in journalism.
He also hopes to create greater Bengal Spirit throughout ISU, exhibited at sports games by hosting spirit weeks and encouraging greater department collaboration. The Bengal Spirit Party also has goals to cultivate a campus where ASISU is supporting the students, not becoming their enemy. The stigma around ASISU has existed for years, but Halter and Medema are committed to maximizing their resources so the student government is at the forefront of student life.
“I am so excited and grateful to have won this election, and [I] am very happy to have the opportunity to serve every Bengal here at ISU.”
