Beatriz Gutierrez won the ASUO presidential election on her 21st birthday. After receiving the news and celebrating with her team, Gutierrez sat down with the Emerald to discuss the ASUO, campaigning and the future of student government.
What have you learned from this campaign?
A lot. Being genuine really goes far. Really caring about people and what’s important to them goes a long way. Trusting my team is the best thing that I could have done. They’re amazing and I never questioned their decisions. Being the top of the ticket didn’t mean I was the head of the team. It was really humbling and an honor.
You have a house divided with the senate being majority Mighty Oregon and you’ll appoint the executive. How do you plan to work together with those different sides after such an ugly election?
Even with the election being ugly I don’t think it changes people to be ugly. I think we’ll be fine working together and beginning to build relationships before the work starts, making sure that we all understand each other’s foundations and differences.
In the primary you were down 190 vote. In the runoff you won by 713 votes. That’s an incredible 900 vote turnaround. What did that?
I think being on the street did that. I talked to a lot of people, and consistent visibility, working with the GTFF. They helped a lot and this week they had events and were continuously promoting it as well. Trying to make sure that all our bases were covered.
Do you think that there needs to be some elections reform?
Yes, definitely. Especially going through this process, I feel like it has been difficult to not have money. There are a lot of things that go into it that sometimes feel like it’s against us. It’s reproducing what there is outside and I don’t feel like we have those kinds of boundaries because we’re so much smaller.
You have primarily worked with unions and programs — what’s it going to be like for you to be on the other side of the table?
I think it’ll be nice. It’ll just be a table now because at first it was a table that divided people into ‘I’m from here and you’re from there’ but now there won’t be much of a difference. I’m excited to work with students.
How will you restore faith in the ASUO after all the recent scandals, campaigning and general drama?
It’s just going to be one student at a time. It’s going to be a challenge but once we’re over it people will see that we’re just students trying to make change for them.
What are some good things that the ASUO has been doing that you’re excited to build on?
The Sexual Assault Task Force. It’ll be amazing to see what it can do next year. I know I’ve talked to Sam Dotters-Katz about it already. That’s really exciting that that is happening, especially on this campus.
How are you now moving on with your life after all this?
I’m not having campaign dreams anymore. I was having campaign dreams where I was on the street or flyering, it was intense. I’m starting to do my research. I know that a lot of people said that I’m not experienced and I think I can totally learn to make up for it.