This term’s Illinois Student Senate elections were record breaking as they featured the first uncontested race in the history of the elections. In fact, there were two: president and vice president external.

“I’m somewhat disappointed that there were two uncontested races, but I’m happy with the results,” said Ariel Avila, senior in business and current vice president internal.

Junior Justin Randall, LAS, won the race for president. One of his key goals as president will be to increase the lobbying power of the student senate. The student senate has no seat on either the Champaign or Urbana city councils, Randall said. He believes that positions on these councils will allow the voice of students to be heard in the community.

“As 40,000 residents of the twin cities, our voices should be heard,” Randall said.

Graduate student Jason Webber won the uncontested race for vice president external. This will mark his second term as vice president external. Webber said he wishes to continue improving on his idea of televised meetings by putting Web casts on the Web site, as well as improving the Web site itself by adding in a search function.

He also wants to increase the funding for the student senate and make sure the voice of the student senate is always present.

“I believe the most effective way to run student government is to let people know we’re out there,” Webber said. “It can really help people get involved.”

Katie Dunne, sophomore in LAS, was the winner in the three-way race for vice president internal. Dunne said that as vice president internal, she plans on working together with the various committees to help them realize their goals.

Dunne also said that even though attendance at meetings and office hours was at a record high, there is still much to improve upon.

“Attendance really shows dedication,” Dunne said. “What’s an organization if people don’t show up?”

The other two candidates in the race for vice president internal were Mike Perkins, junior in LAS, and Joe Glenn, sophomore in LAS.

In the two-way race for treasurer, the winner was Lhea Randle, sophomore in LAS. Randle said her experience with other treasurer positions outside of student senate makes her the best candidate for the job and her dedication will make her a strong treasurer.

“This is something I thought about before I ran, and I would be dedicated to the organization,” Randle said. “Being a treasurer involves more than numbers.”

Randle’s opponent was Ted Dimiropoulos, sophomore in business.

Election winners will be sworn in at Wednesday’s meeting.