Though perfectly legitimate under the Government of the Student Body Constitution, Iowa State’s minority and international students didn’t take to the idea of an outsider representing them.

Mark Nimmer, a senior in engineering and current GSB off-campus senator, ran for the Senate’s minority seat against incumbent Marcia Johnson, a junior in business. Nimmer said if elected he would work to eliminate all specialty seats on the Senate.

“It’s triple representation. There’s no way individuals choose to be apart of that. Nobody chooses to be a minority,” he said.

In order to vote for minority seats, student voters must give up a vote for a college representative

But Nimmer isn’t upset. In fact, he was surprised he received 44 votes, despite the fact that he didn’t campaign and encouraged people to vote against him. “There’s a contingent of Iowa State minority students that wants to declare their independence from the radical leadership of the minority left,” he said.

Nimmer said he felt Johnson, who could not be reached for comment, would do well in her second term as a senator. She won with 117 votes.

“Johnson’s been a good senator all along. My dispute is not with her but with the seat itself,” he said.

Meanwhile Casey Powers, intrafraternity senator, ran for an international seat.

He was the only name on the ballot. But international students instead wrote in students Julio F. Speroni, a sophomore in agriculture business, and Suresh Chekuri, a senior in computer engineering.

Speroni and Chekuri won the two seats with 176 and 180 votes, respectively.

Powers, who got just 55 votes, said he was glad his candidacy prompted more international students to vote.

“It helped tell the international students that they should be involved. I hope they weren’t voting so I’m not elected,” he said.

Powers is from Iowa.

He said Speroni and Chekuri will do well as senators.

Speroni said the numbers, which were above average for the international seat, proved that international students didn’t support Powers. He said he had nothing against Powers personally; he just wasn’t the right person to represent international students because he does not understand their needs, he said.

Chekuri said the outcome of the international seat election shows that “when people feel that an issue is important, they do go out and vote for it.

“People were really informed about this issue,” he said. “A lot of people knew about it. They were upset about it so they came.”

Speroni said international students, in general, don’t care about politics. But he said when their rights are being threatened, they react.