The Tempe Undergraduate Student Government presidential election's second runner-up Niko Vlastos endorsed candidate Aundrea DeGravina Saturday, the second of her endorsements from withdrawn candidates.
DeGravina will face off against candidate Brandon Bishop in a runoff election on April 6, with the winner announced the next day.
Bishop received roughly 47 percent of the vote in last Thursday's election, just shy of the majority vote necessary to grant him the victory. So, a runoff election ensued.
DeGravina previously received the endorsement of candidate Grady Eldridge, who withdrew before voting day, while Bishop has the endorsement of current USG Tempe President Isaac Miller.
"Obviously, I wasn't real thrilled to lose, but I met with both tickets afterword and had them tell me what their plans were," Vlastos said. "(DeGravina) matched our views for president more than the other ticket."
DeGravina expressed willingness to incorporate elements of the Vlastos platform into her own platform, he said.
"They really liked the fact that we built our platform based on what people told us they wanted changed," Vlastos said.
DeGravina said her platform is excited to gain the endorsement of a former candidate.
"It shows that, though (Vlastos and the DeGravina ticket) disagreed on some policies, we really have a message that resonates with the students," she said.
Both tickets have a willingness to do outreach to the average student, she said, echoing the populist message demonstrated in many of the Vlastos ticket's policies.
"I think his endorsement means a lot, especially when you add that to Grady's endorsement," DeGravina said. "If we're able to get the same votes as last time, that's enough to win."
Reach the reporter at Arren.Kimbel-Sannit@asu.edu or follow @akimbelsannit on Twitter.
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