The Associated Students of Madison representatives plan to appoint students to ASM leadership positions Tuesday, after two nominees tied in the appointment for ASM chair Friday.
ASM representatives nominated Brian Benford and Tyler Junger for ASM Chair, both juniors and Letters and Science representatives. Benford and Junger each received 13 votes.
Benford, 49, ran with the For Accessibility Community and Empowerment of Students (FACES) slate, and is a former District 12 alder and current head of the Equal Opportunities Commission. Junger, 20, ran with the Students for Responsible Leadership in ASM Slate, and is the former ASM Student Services Finance Committee secretary.
With Benford and Junger expressing similar goals for Student Council, much of the debate focused on the experience of the candidates. Benford said his years of professional experience with community organizations make him better equipped, while Junger said his experience with ASM is necessary to know how to lead the organization.
Benford and Junger each received 13 votes from ASM representatives, leaving the result inconclusive.
Graduate School Representative Matthew Tobelmann, who cast the last vote, originally planned on abstaining. He said in an interview later he supports Junger, but was comfortable with either candidate as chair.
But when it was Tobelmann's turn to vote, Benford was leading by one vote. Tobelmann voted for Junger with the intention of postponing the vote until more representatives could vote.
""My biggest concern is that it's such a close vote and that not enough representatives are present,"" Tobelmann said.
Four ASM representatives were absent during the vote for chair: Graduate School Representatives Elizabeth Wrigley-Field and Katrina Flores, and Freshman Representatives Rebecca Newman and Axel Hernandez.
Student Judiciary Chief Justice Trenell Darby said ASM bylaws require Student Council to postpone the vice chair and secretary election until the council elects a chair.
According to ASM Vice Chief Justice Ben Beduhn, who took minutes at ASM's Friday meeting, representatives voted in Melissa Hanley as Shared Governance chair, and Steven Olikara as Diversity Committee chair for a second term. Neither are ASM representatives.
Members plan to vote for ASM chair, vice-chair, Secretary, and other Committee chairs Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. in the hearing room of the Student Activity Center.
