Hillary Lewis and Frank Keller won the students' vote for University Park Undergraduate Association (UPUA) president and vice president yesterday, receiving 124 more votes than their nearest competition.

"I'm pretty overwhelmed, actually," Lewis said. "I'm ready to make some changes."

Head election commissioner Frank Criscione said the official results would be confirmed in a couple of days because the election commission still has to go through each candidate's financial statements and process any violations. Each violation reduces a candidate's spending limit a certain amount, and if a candidate exceeds the spending limit, he or she will be disqualified.

Lewis said her campaign was "well below" the spending cap, using only $220 out of a possible $600.

The first thing Lewis said she hopes to do as UPUA president is to give students the opportunity to register for PSUTXT more easily.

Lewis worked as governmental affairs chairman for UPUA this year, and her main project was Rally in the Rotunda. She said she hopes to gain more support for the rally and also pursue "other ways to rally for funds."

A total of 5,936 students voted in this semester's election, 3,334 more than in the fall.

The higher turnout, Lewis said, was a testament to the hard work all the candidates put into their respective campaigns.

Keller said UPUA needs the students who voted in the elections to continue their interest in UPUA.

"I hope all these people stay excited," he said. "We need their input."

Lewis said she "definitely wants [fellow presidential candidate] Ricardo Torres and [his running mate] Mike Anderson as part of [her] executive staff," but she would have to speak to other candidates to determine whether they would be offered a position in her administration.

Anderson said the two tickets grew close throughout the election when they realized "how valuable it was that [they] all had experience."

Torres said he had spoken to Lewis about being a part of her administration and would "love to step up and serve along her side."

Despite not winning the presidency, Torres, who finished fourth, said he's still happy with his campaign.

"The decision to run was mostly driven by my love for Penn State," Torres said. "In the end, I did everything I could, and I'm satisfied with that."

The first runner-up, Gavin Keirans, looked solemn and disappointed after the vote totals were announced, but said he would "regroup and start making and keeping the promises that [he] made."

"The dream doesn't die because I don't have the title," he said, adding that because he is a freshman, he would "absolutely" run for UPUA again in the future.

Daniel Hadas earned the third-highest vote total, only four votes fewer than Keirans. He said he would like to stay involved with UPUA, adding that "being runner-up is no shame."

"I'm willing to work with whoever," Hadas said. "I don't have to be the winner to make changes at Penn State."

Peter Johnson finished fifth, and he said he was "definitely surprised" with the election results.

"That was almost exactly the reverse order I expected," he said of his placement. "I just hope that UPUA will become the thing I'd hoped it would be."

John Gremminger, the last place finisher, also said he was "extremely shocked" with the outcome.

Lewis' she said she used the idea of a "phone chain," asking friends to call friends, to garner votes.

Collegian staff writers Andrew McGill, Billy Wellock, Adrienne Fedyna, Rossilynne Skena and Leslie Finlay contributed to this report.