Mercer Martin and Josephine Nicholson will be OU Student Government Association’s next president and vice president, according to unofficial election results released Thursday evening.
Martin, entrepreneurship and economics junior, and Nicholson, constitutional studies and professional writing junior, won the election with 50.45% of the vote, or 1653 total votes.
The pair ran against Kristen-Nicole Mitei, an accounting and economics junior, and Kendall Rench, an accounting, economics and management junior, who received 49.54% of the vote, or 1623 total votes.
The election comes after an initial vote last week ended with none of the three tickets receiving enough votes to declare a winner. According to the SGA code annotated, a presidential candidate must receive more than 50% of the vote to win the race.
Of the 2,745 votes cast in last week's general election, Mitei and Rench received 1,336 votes, or 48.67% of the vote. Martin and Nicholson received 1,181 votes, or 43.02% of the vote. The third ticket, Bridgett Lapp and Andy Wang, received 228 votes, or 8.3% of the vote, according to unofficial election results Friday night.
This was the first three-way election since 2020.
Martin has been involved with SGA since her first year at OU and is currently the SGA secretary of student services. She previously served as co-chair of the Crimson Leadership Association, a group for first-year students that focuses on providing skills for a successful future, emphasizing networking skills and community. Nicholson is SGA secretary of campus relations.
Martin and Nicholson's campaign is called “SPIRIT,” an acronym for strengthening connections, promoting OU traditions, integrating resources and access, reinforcing campus fellowship, initiating partnerships with Norman and tying students to the local community.
The pair told OU Daily last month they aim to use their resources to build personal connections across different organizations to help everyone feel like they belong and are proud to be part of OU.
Martin and Nicholson will replace SGA President Avery Dunlap and Vice President Joseph Harroz III one week after the validation of the election report.
Sophie Hemker copy edited this story.
