Student voters reasserted themselves Tuesday after their low turnout in the March primary, and in the process boosted two Progressive Danes to victory in the City Council and County Board elections.
Incumbent Ald. Tom Powell, District 5, beat challenger Ron Rosner by 39 votes. The majority of Powell's votes came from student wards. He gained exceptional support from the Lakeshore Dorm area, garnering 69 votes to Rosner's 10.
\It was like pulling teeth trying to get the Lakeshore dorms to vote. Ech [Vedder] and I were out there trying to drag people to the polls,"" Powell said, adding that he was pleased with the student turnout.
Overall the number of student voters was relatively high, according to Sylvia Robertson, head election officer at the Memorial Union polling station. Nearly 400 individuals came out to vote at the Union, which included the District 5 supervisory race.
""For an election like this with only one office that's really meaningful to students, it's a pretty good turnout,"" she said.
Lack of student support hurt Rosner, who praised Powell for his hard work.
""I think [Powell] managed to get out his people and he deserves credit for that,"" he said. ""I was looking forward to working with students, so yeah, it is disappointing.""
In the county board election, Sup. Ech Vedder, District 5 also demonstrated the power of incumbency, grabbing 63 percent of the votes.
""I feel very good,"" Vedder said. ""I'm the elected official, but it's really what the people are asking for that's important.""
Vedder's opponent, Ion Skillrud, said he realized that it was an uphill battle from the beginning of his campaign, but added that he harbored no ill will towards the supervisor.
""I did the best I could; it's pretty tough to knock off a two-time incumbent, being 19 years old and not having one damn thing on my record as far as politics go,"" he said. ""Hats off to Ech.""
Both Powell and Vedder said now that they were re-elected, they hope to focus on housing issues and pave the way for more affordable housing on the county and city levels.
""It's definitely time to have an ordinance maintaining a certain percentage of new development units that are ensured to be affordable,"" Vedder said.
Though he was disappointed, Rosner said he and his supporters would take a wait and see approach before they decide if he will mount another campaign in next year's election.
""We're willing to give Powell a chance and see if he can actually represent our interests,"" he said.
