After the conclusion of a heated campaign season, the College Republicans held a special election Wednesday night to elect a new chair following the resignation of fourth-year College student Joanna Ro as head of the organization.
Third-year College student Ali Hiestand won the election, making her chair of the College Republicans until elections are held in the spring.
Ro officially resigned Nov. 10, citing personal reasons. Adam Kimelman, a second-year College student and vice chair of campaigns, subsequently stepped into the role of interim chair until the election.
In an email to the members of the College Republicans announcing Ro’s resignation on Nov. 10, the executive board said Ro had intended to step down on Oct. 30, but the board convinced her to wait so the organization could address the vacancy after the election.
“Joanna’s resignation was due to solely personal reasons,” Kimelman said. “She felt like she couldn’t give her full time.”
Hiestand, previously the vice chair of events, ran against Kimelman and third-year Engineering student Cameron Springer.
The College Republicans have not released the vote count. Due to the College Republican’s constitutional requirement that a candidate receive a simple majority of votes to win without a runoff election, Hiestand won more than half of votes cast. There was not a runoff election Wednesday night.
“[Hiestand is] 100 percent qualified for the position,” Kimelman said.
The College Republicans received much attention this fall over their decision to endorse president-elect Donald Trump’s candidacy in September, before revoking their endorsement in October following the leak of an Access Hollywood tape in which Trump bragged about groping women.
Both votes were close, with a 67-63 vote to originally endorse Trump, and a 64-54 vote to rescind the endorsement.
Candidates say they did not feel this influenced the election for the organization’s chair.
Kimelman said the controversy over Trump’s endorsement “didn’t really play any role at all — [the endorsement] was mostly symbolic.”
Hiestand also said the endorsement was not a factor.
“The one thing related to Trump would’ve been that people were worried about bringing the party together and supporting his Republican aims,” Hiestand said.
Hiestand said she wants to work on bringing people together.
“[My] main goals revolve around painting the club and the Republican party in the right light — a lot of people are having negative feelings [after the election],” Hiestand said.
In a statement sent to the College Republicans before the election, Hiestand also said she would like to “improve the organization of … meetings, events and e-mails” and “boost attendance at meetings by using personal connections to attract speakers.”
Kimelman agreed with Hiestand on the importance of building unity, both outside of the club and within, noting “a lot of people in [College Republicans] feel like Trump doesn’t represent them.”
Kimelman said that in order to build more unity and outreach on Grounds, he feels it is important for University students “to understand why someone could support Trump” and said he hopes to see more bipartisan events or open dialogues to bring students together.
Many students have voiced concerns about a Trump presidency.
The College Republicans are currently in the process of nominating and electing a member to replace Hiestand as vice chair of events. They have not yet firmly picked a date for the election.
Neither Ro nor Springer responded to a request for comment for this article.
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