Samantha Elizalde wins Sac State ASI presidency
2021-2022 Board of Directors election draws 9% turnout
File photo: Samantha Elizalde discusses her platform centered on recovering from the pandemic on Friday, April 2, 2021. Elizalde was elected ASI president for the 2021-2022 school year Thursday. Photo taken via Zoom.
April 8, 2021
Samantha Elizalde was elected Sacramento State’s Associated Students, Inc. president and Joseph Sais was elected executive vice president after ASI held elections for its 2021-2022 Board of Directors Wednesday and Thursday.
Elizalde and Sais’ presidential ticket won with 55.49% of the vote. Elizalde currently serves as ASI executive vice president and Sais currently serves as ASI director of arts and letters.
9% of Sac State students voted in this year’s election, compared to 6.5% of students who voted last year, almost a two percentage point increase.
The winner of the ASI vice president of finance ticket was Faith Soltero, who won with 54.28% of the vote. Soltero is a third year public health major who is currently an intern for California’s Department of Health Care Services.
After running unopposed, Lovepreet Kaur was re-elected as the vice president of university affairs with 94.08% of the vote. 5.92% of votes in this race were votes of no confidence.
The winner of the vice president of academic affairs ticket was Sadia Ashraf, who won with 52.80% of the vote. She is the current director of undeclared students.
The new director of arts and letters will be Aladria Brown, who ran unopposed and won with 95.43% of the vote, with 4.57% of votes being of no confidence. She is a theater major who attributes her interest in ASI to her grandfather, who was a public school board member when she was younger.
The new director of engineering and computer sciences will be Alyssa Rendon, who won with 40.55% of the vote. She is currently the president of the Leading Hispanics in STEM organization.
Winning the role of director of health and human services is Coleton Matics, who won with 59.87% of the vote. He is the current undergraduate representative for the California Nursing Students Association and is education chair for Men in Nursing at Sac State.
The new director of natural sciences and mathematics will be Isha Bindal, who ran unopposed and won with 96.06% of the vote. 3.94% of the votes were of no confidence. She is an international student from India who is new to ASI.
Winning the role of director of social sciences and interdisciplinary studies is Laura De la Garza, who won with 34.66% of the vote. She is currently involved with the Student Health Advisory Committee.
The new director of undeclared students will be Dhruvisha Budhani, who ran uncontested and won with 95.32% of the vote. 4.68% of votes in this race were votes of no confidence. She currently serves in several ASI internal committees.
There were no candidates running for the roles of director of business administration, director of education or director of graduate studies.
