About 100 students gathered in front of Frederick Douglass Memorial Hall under the sweltering D.C. sun to hear the results of the Fall 2025 Special Elections. The announcement, made around noon on Sept. 26, followed nearly three weeks of campaigning and inaugural election procedures from the newly transformed Elections Commission.
Voting for the general election occurred the day prior, and the run-off election day occurred on Oct. 1. Despite new voter engagement initiatives like the candidate fair, only 17 percent of the student body voted.
The Elections Commission director of communications, Tochi Ihekona, went over the principles of the Elections Commission to the crowd.
“We reaffirm our commitment to creating a stage for aspiring student leaders to shine, uphold democracy, and further civic education. We thank every student for their engagement,” Ihekona said.
Elections Commissioner Willie White III opened the event by expressing gratitude to all candidates.
“All of you have shown your capacity for student leadership, so regardless if you are an official student leader recognized by Howard, you are a student leader recognized at least by the commission and the rest of the student body,” White said.
The commission’s new procedures included public access to campaign expenditures and donations, a new investigations team and a candidate hub for all campaigns.
Cadence Handy, who campaigned on the “My Intent” slate for School of Business treasurer, found the new procedures, such as the public documentation of campaign spending, to be straightforward.
“It really wasn’t that complicated, communication is key,” Handy said.
Handy ended up in a run-off election against Khiya Salley from the Sonder Council slate, who received 45.56 percent of the vote in the original election and won the run-off.
All 12 referendums on the ballot passed with at least 83 percent approval. Eleven received more than 90 percent. The Judiciary Stipend Referendum passed with 83 percent, granting the Judiciary chair and vice chair stipends equal to 1.8 percent of the student activity fee pool. They are now the third-highest paid student leaders, after the Senate chair and vice chair, Mister and Miss Howard, and the HUSA president and vice president.
Kamani Dyson, a freshman nursing major from Pennsylvania, was one of the 17 percent of Howard students who voted in the election. She enjoyed the campaign season but was still surprised at the number of people running on election day.
“There were so many people that were running than I knew of, which was like dang,” Dyson said. “I actually didn’t even know voting was happening until the hour before it ended.”
Mateo Lewis, a sophomore political science major from Denver, Colorado, was under the impression that Fall elections were only for freshmen and that there was nothing he could vote on, he said.
Despite a low student body voting turnout, many candidates enjoyed the campaigning experience. Natiya Natal, one of the candidates for the College of Engineering and Architecture’s HUSA Senator, felt like she was able to better engage with her classmates.
“I got to meet a bunch of students from CEA and also kind of learn and gauge what the students needed throughout the school,” Natal said. Natal lost the position by just 18 votes to Kelci Lewis.
Each announcement was met with cheers and applause, reaching the maximum volume when Ryann May and Rosh Israel Morrow, were announced as Miss and Mister Freshman.
“God really is what got me up here, and it’s been hard, it’s been tiring, but it’s really worth it. And seeing how many support me and my pageant family, I’m just very thankful,” May said.
One of the most anticipated positions up for election, freshman senator, is currently under review by the Elections Commission. According to public candidate financial statements, one of the HUSA senator candidates went over the campaign spending limit, however the elections commission has not confirmed that this was the reason the results are under review. The winner has yet to be announced.
Copy edited by D’Nyah Jefferson – Philmore
