The Associated Students of UC Irvine (ASUCI) announced the results for the 2026 student government elections during a ceremony hosted by 2025-26 Elections Commissioner Nicole Nowak on April 29.
Summer Phan was elected to be ASUCI president with 2,066 votes, while Joshua Gonzales won Internal Vice President with 1,949 votes and Jayla Pete, who ran uncontested, was elected to be External Vice President with 3,261 votes. Phan and Pete were not present to address attendees after the results were announced.
Nowak opened the ceremony by thanking everyone involved in the election process.
“Whether you are a candidate, an initiative coordinator or as a supporter, I really appreciate all of your help,” Nowak said.
She specifically noted endorsements, social media campaigning, boothing and flyer distribution as examples of student involvement.
Nowak then announced the election results, beginning with the constitutional amendment. The amendment passed with 3,561 affirmative votes, passing the quorum of 11.42%.
Besides the top three executive roles, Denise Rojas won Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs with 1,726 votes. Sarah Gagnier, who ran uncontested, won Student Programming Commissioner with 3,108 votes. Neha Mahesh, who also ran uncontested, was elected Associate Vice President of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion with 3,103 votes.
“I know this is a new position this year, so I’m looking forward to shaping what it looks like next year and in the future,” Mahesh said to the audience in her speech. She added that she wants to work on immigration, campus safety and the establishment of an East Asian Resource Center.
Among special-interest senate positions, Danellie McIntyre won Transfer Senator with 1,024 votes. The position is responsible for representing transfer students in the ASUCI senate. Charlene Wang won International Senator with 658 votes, a role that represents international students in the Senate.
Fourteen candidates running for the at-large senate seats were elected, out of the 15 seats available for the upcoming 2026-27 year. The winners were Dominique Janot, Sastraguna Subrata, Gabriel Sorisho, Jose Ramos, Alex Gritchen, Yara Shakhshir, Devika Vithalani, Charleen Pan, Ethan Hatch, Nithila Murugesan, Hiba Khan, Allison Kim, Colin Damon and Ashley Gurrola. Gurrola received the highest vote total among the at-large senators with 1,165 votes.
The ceremony also included the results for the four student fee referendums on this year’s ballot. Among undergraduate-only measures, the Basic Needs Student Fee referendum received 86.22% yes-votes and 13.78% no-votes, while the Support Student-Run Newspaper Student Fee referendum received 61.8% yes-votes and 38.10% no-votes. Among joint undergraduate and graduate referendums, the Dream Center Student Fee referendum received 77.78% yes-votes and 22.22% no-votes, while the Safeguarding our Cultural and Identity Centers Student Fee referendum received 70.57% yes-votes and 29.43% no-votes.
Organizers also announced a calculation error in the live quorum percentage on the elections website. The percentage incorrectly suggested the referendum measures had met the threshold to pass. The final undergraduate quorum was under 20%, resulting in none of the referendums passing.
The final vote counts for all candidates and referendums are available on the ASUCI elections website.
Brinda Popli is a News Intern for the spring 2026 quarter. She can be reached at bpopli@uci.edu.
Edited by Geneses Navarro.
