In a stunning conclusion to the most hotly-contested Student Assembly election in recent memory, Julia Hildreth '05 defeated Ralph Davies '05 Wednesday by a single vote to become next year's student body president.
Hildreth, whose campaign came under scrutiny after a hacker allegedly sent a mass BlitzMail message to members of the Class of 2004 from one of her supporter's accounts, won 778 votes to Davies' 777 votes.
Jim Baehr '05, whose highly-visible campaign included an elaborate web site and self-described "flash," trailed behind with 512 votes, while Dave Wolkoff '05 garnered 467 votes.
Mike Valmonte '06 came away with 110 votes.
The voter turnout of 2,668 students was the highest ever for Assembly elections and represented an increase of more than 1,000 from 2003.
Elections Planning and Advisory Committee co-chair Stephanie Long '04 attributed the increase in turnout to "the nature and number of qualified candidates running for the position."
Hildreth concurred, saying, "I'm really grateful that there was such great voter turnout because it's obvious that all the candidates were really qualified, and I'm looking forward to refocusing on SA and accomplishing things rather than worrying about the election."
Davies declined to immediately comment.
"I'm very impressed with all the campaigns, but now that's its over, we should all get behind Julia, because she will do a great job," current student body president Janos Marton '04 said.
In a last-minute move, Marton, who defeated Brett Theisen '04 by a landslide 73.6 percent of the vote, the largest margin in more than a decade, endorsed Hildreth in Tuesday's issue of The Dartmouth.
In protest of EPAC's handling of campaign violations and other election protocol, Hildreth did not attend a candidate reception, held in Tindle Lounge late Wednesday evening after the results of the election were announced at 9:21 p.m., 21 minutes after their projected release via BlitzMail.
"I was disappointed in the process of decision-making and appeals consideration within the Elections Planning Committee," Hildreth said.
Baehr was the sole presidential candidate who attended the candidate reception.
"I congratulate my opponents for a hard-fought contest. I was proud to participate in the election with the highest turnout in SA history. Others may have won more votes, but we had the most fun," Baehr said.
Valmonte added, "We feel like Ralph Nader right now -- the entire Novack Party that is."
"It's been a roller coaster. I think it took everyone by surprise," EPAC member Jeff Shaw '04 said of the election's results.
Earning 48.55 percent of the vote, Todd Rabkin Golden '06 will take on the role of student body vice president.
"I think we'll definitely have a good year. I'm excited to get things going," Rabkin Golden said.
Karan Danthi '07 and Dave Zubricki '07 finished behind Rabkin Golden with 22.69 percent and 21.77 percent of the vote, respectively.
Voter turnout for vice president was also high, with 2,173 total votes cast.
In a close race, Edward Duszlak won the 2007 class presidency, and William Stork was elected vice president of the '07 class.
Incumbents Sabrina Singh '05 and Katy McCarthy '05 will continue to serve as president and vice president of the 2005 Class Council.
Although overshadowed by the presidential election, EPAC members emphasized the highly competitive Committee on Standards and Organizational Adjudication Committee races.
Benjamin Schwartz '06, Kwabena Safo-Agyekum '06, Russ Lane '06, Taica Hsu '06, Austin Lord '06 and Lucien Williams '05 were elected to the COS.
Bradley Tavares '05, William Canestaro '06, Amisha Patel '05, Brian Martin '06, Jennifer Thompson '06 and Alyssa Minsky '06 will serve on next year's OAC.
The 20 members of the Green Key society included sophomores Benjamin Schwartz, Nan Wang, Taica Hsu, Russ Lane, Austin Lord, Edythe Wilson, Heidi Immesberger, Colin Barry, Susan Gordon, Nicholas DeJulio, Mathew Lemberger, William Canestaro, W. Lane Verlenden.
Kristen Wong, Jennifer Bordeau, Akay Tuncak, Diana Zhang, Chelsea Voake, Ann Scott and Griffin Gordon were also named as Green Key members.
Barry is also a member of The Dartmouth staff.
