As neck and neck campaigning drew the Associated Student Senate election nearer to a close last week and voting fluctuated, a supportive hand reached toward its competition.

Presidential candidate Aaron Waldman updated his Facebook late last week, signaling his supporters to vote for his opponent Jeffrey Englert, as he had fallen behind his opponents.

Englert, a film production major, won the race for Associated Student Government President with 238 votes, beating out Ola Smith with 216 and Waldman with 136, making him the first male to win since 2008.

“I was thrilled to have him on my corner,” Englert said of Waldman. “He reached the people that needed to be reached. It was a pleasure having his support.”

Results of the newly elected student representatives, who play a role in the college’s decision making and reinforce student services, activities, needs and concerns were announced at a press conference at 2:15 p.m. Monday.

Blas Romel, a business-economics major, won the Vice President of Finance and Operations position by two votes, 301 to 299. Arielle Valenzuela, communication major, won the Public Relations Officer seat.

Englert hopes to raise awareness of the student government, and increase events and activities in hopes of bringing the student body closer.

Englert, a New York native, stressed the importance of fundraising as “the most achievable goal” and hopes to “initiate one event per month at a local commerce.”

A percentage of money raised would be directly deposited into the student government’s fund, and votes would determine how distribute it, he said.

Commissioner of Clubs Cassandra Siegel agreed.

“Santa Barbara is sort of a dead city for our generation. At least, for our age group,” she said. Slip n’ slides, Gamefest, and student events were examples of her goals for taking action on campus.

Valenzuela opted for increasing student involvement, but focused on off-campus activities, like cleaning city beaches.

“With an increase in charitable acts among the community, our school’s civil presence can help build local support against threats to our campus, such as the much dreaded budget crisis,” said Valenzuela, an Ojai native.

Romel urged students to approach the tuition increase with action, as was done during March-in-March, a student protest at the Sacramento State Capitol earlier this year.

Romel said it is hard to make the government take their voice seriously against the fight for tuition increase. With matching concerns with citizens and protesting, he believes there can be success.

According to Student Program Advisor Amy Collins, total votes were up 760, compared to 650 last year.

“[Students] were very active with solicitation of votes, they spoke in classes, tabled on our campus, used email and Facebook to get their messages out,” Collins said.

Shiny posters with headshots and platforms lined the campus in weeks leading to April 29, when voting closed.

Despite it all, face-to-face interaction helped most in the competitive race, Englert said.

“Wednesday the 27 of April, I spent 15 hours at school, all because I kept telling myself that there was no way that I was going to lose. In between classes, meetings and my internship, I campaigned, campaigned and campaigned.

“It forced me out of my comfort zone, and I met more students than I have ever met before. It forced me to speak to students and voice my concerns, concerns that most students weren’t even aware of, even though the concerns were directly affecting them,” Englert said.

“The most unique thing about this year’s campaign, in my eyes, was being able to directly shake hands with hundreds of students and tell them why it’s more important, now then ever, to vote and voice their opinion,” he said.