According to the Student Association Congress’ preliminary results, Hatim Husainy, a junior studying political science and sustainable communities, won the Binghamton University Council Representative election.

“Thank you to everyone who voted and canvassed! Now comes the hard part,” Husainy wrote in an Instagram comment.

Husainy won with 630 votes. Muhammad Bhatti, a sophomore majoring in philosophy, politics and law, came in second with 564 votes. Nina Thomas, a junior majoring in political science and economics, received 349 votes. Jobial Alex, a fifth-year history PhD student, came in fourth with 89 votes.

Voting opened at 9 a.m. Sept. 8 and closed Wednesday at 9 a.m.

Husainy served BU’s Young Democratic Socialists of America chapter, has written for Happy Medium political science magazine and was an SA Congress representative. He told Pipe Dream that these positions prepared him to serve as BUCR because he is used to “struggling against administration on campus.”

Husainy spoke to Pipe Dream about his feelings after the preliminary results were announced.

“I‘m really proud about the work that I did and the work that we did — me and the many people who turned out to canvass for me, and the hundreds of people who turned out to vote for me,” he said.

He ran on four main goals: to make the East Gym free for students; to switch the dining halls from a pay-per-item system to a swipe system; to end the University’s contract with Flock Safety, a license plate reader provider, which is accused of working with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and to build a student government on campus “that can stand up to administration when we need to fight them.”

One major goal of Husainy’s platform was to build a tight-knit community on campus where people support each other. He discussed growing up in a close community on Long Island and how people worked together on systems of food distribution to make halal food more accessible.

“That’s the kind of thing I’d like to build on campus, and that ethos that we hold each other up is something I try to bring with me wherever I go, political or otherwise,” said Husainy.

Husainy told Pipe Dream that he ran for BUCR “because the University Student Association needs a change.”

In an Instagram post informing voters about election day, Husainy argued BUCR is unique in student government.

“The power of the BUCR is that when I speak, it is not with one voice, but with 18,000 voices, and I think I’m in a position to wield that power,” Husainy said in an interview with Pipe Dream prior to election day.

Husainy also said that he is excited to speak to BU President Anne D’Alleva.

“As soon as possible, I’ll start putting together a team to work on the four priorities I ran on, and I’ll be talking to her about how those can be implemented, and kind of how we are thinking about working with administration, and how we are willing to go independent of administration as necessary to get these changes done,” Husainy said.