In the highly contended race for Student Union president, current Student Union Vice President David Herbstritt ’17 came out on top, narrowly edging out Ford Hall 2015 activist Christian Nunez ’18 by two votes. Seven Student Union positions were filled in Thursday’s first round of spring elections.

According to an elections statistics document provided by Student Union Secretary Shuying Liu ’16, Herbstritt won 479 votes in the election while Nunez earned 477. Additionally, 80 voters selected the “abstain” option — meaning they did not view either candidate as viable — while 17 voters wrote in other candidates’ names, including six votes for “Luis” and one vote for Bernie Sanders. Ultimately, there were 1,053 votes cast for the presidential race.

In a pre-election debate on Wednesday night, Herbstritt reflected on his time in the Student Union, explaining how he will draw upon his Union experiences to help him achieve his platform goals, which he described as being based on addressing student concerns and pushing for more bystander training, greater dialogue on sexual assault and better sustainability on campus.

In the same debate, Nunez argued that he would draw upon his Ford Hall 2015 experiences to better enrich the community. “I got to think about the prejudices inside myself and see what was happening in the community,” Nunez said of the sit-in. “I’ve been to too many funerals. I’ve seen too many people fail. … But this isn’t a sob story. … I can now go back to my community and say, ‘But wait! There’s a way.’”

Current Executive Senator Paul Sindberg ’18 won the vice presidency with 450 of the 1,008 votes cast in his race. His opponent, Antoine Malfroy-Camine ’17, garnered 363 votes.

At the debate, Sindberg addressed the audience with an anecdote, recalling one Christmas tap dancing show in which he, as Santa, had forgotten suspenders and, after having his pants fall down, had had to complete his performance while holding his pants up. The moral of the story is, he said, that “I am a person who is willing to and going to fight.”

In his address, Malfroy-Camine voiced his support for fossil fuel divestment and faculty unionization and called for expansion of the Rape Crisis Center, which he called “overtaxed.”

Myra Kraft Transitional Year Program Senator Gabriela Gonzalez Anavisca ’19 was elected the next Secretary, with 807 of the 1,008 votes cast in her race. “As secretary, I just want to be a link between the students [and the Student Union],” she said at the debate.

Ziyang Chen ’18, a current Allocations Board member, won the race for Student Union Treasurer with 822 of the 1,022 votes cast in her race. At the debate, she explained how she will draw upon her A-Board experience while in office and noted that she wants to improve efficiency and transparency in the allocations process.

Will Jones ’18 was elected the junior representative to the Board of Trustees, garnering 860 of the 1,018 votes cast in his race. Jones, the current Student Union chief of staff and a former senator for Rosenthal Quad, told the audience at the debate that he is looking to strengthen the relationship between the student body and the Board of Trustees. “There’s a problem that nobody here actually knows [who is on the Board],” he said.

In the race for the open seat on the Brandeis Sustainability Fund, current Class of 2018 Senator Cassie Cain edged out Mingyue (Daisy) Chen ’18 with a final tally of 403 to 323 votes of the 989 cast in their race.

At the debate, Cain cited her childhood in rural Maine as her reason for wanting to serve, while Chen spoke of experience growing up in a city with air pollution as her motivation to improve the environment. Chen also suggested a bike-sharing program on campus, which she argued would decrease BranVan use and, by default, the University’s carbon footprint.

Finally, Jacob Edelman ’18 won the race for the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee seat, garnering 456 votes over opponent Brooke Granovsky’s ’18 353. In the debate, Edelman discussed a wish to establish a set midterm week to lessen student stress; expand the Environmental Studies, African and Afro-American Studies and Women and Gender Studies programs; and allow participation in club sports to count for physical education credit. Granovsky’s platform included broadening the nonwestern courses available, improving the quality of University Writing Seminar courses and allowing participation in the Brandeis Emergency Medical Corps to count for physical education credit.

The next round of elections will take place next week. In this upcoming round, the student body will vote on 14 open positions: two senators-at-large, two class senators from each non-graduating class, one senator for racial minority students and five associate justices of the Student Union judiciary. There will be a meeting for potential candidates in the Student Union office tomorrow night.