Presidential candidate Aysha Malik and her running mate, Theo Samets, and the team of Lori Murphy and Lee Pedinoff advanced through the primary election on Thursday afternoon, eliminating Andrew Morse and Susan Gleiser from the Vanderbilt Student Government presidential race.

“We’re sitting in a really good place right now. It’s exciting,” said Samets, who is currently VSG’s executive adviser. “I don’t think Aysha or I could be happier with the results today.”

Malik, current speaker of the senate, added that she was “both humbled and honored” and said she had a great deal of respect for Morse and Gleiser.

Attorney General Tyler Boyd announced yesterday’s results on Sarratt Promenade at about 12:30 p.m. Around 44 percent of the student body turned out to vote in the election, with 56 percent of seniors voting, the most of all the classes, and 32 percent of sophomores voting, the lowest percentage.

Murphy and Pedinoff garnered the most votes at 1,699, or 41.2 percent of the votes cast, while Malik and Samets received 1,523 votes, roughly 37.3 percent.
Morse and Gleiser had 728 votes, or 17.7 percent, Boyd said.

Now the focus is on next week’s final election, which will run from Wednesday at 8 a.m. until Thursday at noon.

“What we’re trying to do is build off of the momentum that we have,” said Murphy, current executive vice president. “In this campaign we’ve really been trying to demonstrate that we’re the most experienced ticket, we’re the best suited for the job, we believe we can do this and we’re so passionate about these elections, and I think it’s just spending the next week showing how dedicated we are to this and demonstrating to the rest of campus that we can do this.”

Both teams are looking to continue conversations with students.

“Mostly we’re going to continue to listen because that’s what we’ve been doing all along,” Samets said. “Our platform to begin with was based on conversations we’ve had over the past two and a half years, and even so we’re still learning about new issues every day that people have on this campus. And that’s why we’re running, to really confront and deal with those issues.”

Murphy echoed that thought, adding that she and Pedinoff will try to show students they are best suited for the job.

“Over the past week we’ve gotten the opportunity to talk to a lot of students, listen to a lot of people, and I think it’s really going forward, showing we’ve been listening, that we care about what they have to say and that we’re ready to go take on this role,” Murphy said. “We’re excited to prove that we are those people.”

“We wouldn’t be in this position if we didn’t believe we are the best able to represent students’ voices and students’ interests,” said Pedinoff, Murphy’s vice presidential running mate and current VSG treasurer.

Samets said he and Malik also will continue “focusing on students’ wants and students’ needs.”

“What I think people are most excited about is based on our five premises; they know these are things that are going to get done,” Samets said.

Malik said after a forum the candidates held with the Black Student Alliance she came away realizing the importance of open dialogue.

"Theo and I left there, and we both agreed that no matter what happens at the end of this process, that has to happen more often,” Malik said. “Because at the end of the day, it's that back-and-forth conversation that we value, and that's why we're doing this."