Weeks of intense campaigning paid off tonight for Erik Pederson and Allen Hornung, who took away the titles of president and vice president for the Student Government Association at Northern Kentucky University.

“It was a heck of a race to say the absolute least. Stress was its max for Chuck, myself, Chanell and Allen. I wanna give them my congratulations for running in my mind a very successful campaign and a very competitive campaign…It was amazing, I can’t put it any other way, I can’t even put the feeling into words to tell you the truth,” said Erik Pederson. Pederson is currently serving as the vice president of SGA.

The results were announced at approximately 10:30 p.m. to a crowd of around 40 students and faculty. Emotions ran high as Sara Daugherty, a junior special education student, announced the winners of other categories, the tension building as she approached the presidential slot.

“I feel like I have more invested than when we won,” current SGA President Dustin Robinson said as the votes were being counted.

As Sara told the crowd that the Pederson/Hornung slate were the new president and vice president, the crowd erupted. Pederson and Chanell Karr, Chuck Rust’s running-mate for vice president, were seen hugging soon after the announcement.

Chuck Rust requested to comment at a later date.

The race was characterized as a close one, with Pederson/Hornung reaching 508 votes and Rust/Karr following closely with 451. The third presidential candidate, John Young wasn’t present and received 17 votes.

“I think it was very successful,” said Daugherty of the election. “There’s 1,029 votes, that’s almost double of last year.”

Daugherty explained that the next step is to swear in the newly elected candidates.