During its first meeting of the semester, the Iowa State Student Government Senate conducted various business, including electing Sen. Hannah Everhart as vice speaker, announcing the 2024 election dates and preparing bills to be voted on at the next meeting.

Vice speaker

Everhart, a senior in agricultural communication, beat Sen. Asray Gopa, a sophomore in computer science, on a vote of 17-2-1 after four senators, including the one who nominated Gopa, and Speaker Alex Cecil, a senior in agronomy, spoke in favor of Everhart.

“Sen. Everhart was much more looking at what needed to happen now and Sen. Gopa was much more on long-term goals,” Cecil said. “Both of them are great, but I am looking at how we can make the organization a little bit more self-sufficient right now.”

All four senators also said both would fit the position well.

Election

The 2024 Iowa State Student Government elections will occur on March 5 and 6, with results announced on March 8.

The presidential debate will happen on Feb. 20 and the vice presidential debate will take place on Feb. 6. Both debates are at 6 p.m. in the Memorial Union Durham Great Hall.

Those wishing to file for election must attend information sessions and complete a statement of intent. Details about the session times and statement of intent due dates can be found on the Iowa State Student Government website.

The Senate is also seeking to fill 12 vacancies in current terms.

Next meeting

When the Senate reconvenes they will discuss legislation on eliminating the position of attorney general, setting a maximum number of nominees per bill and adopting priorities and criteria for FY 2025.