“There was no doubt in my mind that I was going to win,” Mosallam said. “I had tremendous support from Spartan Nation.”

Democratic incumbent Joel Ferguson will maintain a position on the board after leading all candidates in popular voting with 2,058,440 votes. He will enter his 27th year on the board once the moves are effective on Jan. 1, 2013.

Ferguson has served as chairman of the board since 1992 while Foster has been on the board since 2004 and has served as the vice chairwoman for the past five years.

“(The trustees) work well together with whoever it is,” Ferguson said about the board’s bipartisan nature. “You can’t tell what party (Republicans Brian Breslin and Mitch Lyons) are. They’re absolutely wonderful.”

Prior to the election, Foster felt very confident in her chances that she would be back on the board come January.

With Mosallam struggling in some of the smaller counties, Foster started to take a lead early Wednesday morning.

However, Mosallam raked in the votes in some of the bigger counties, such as Ingham, Wayne and Genesee counties.

Both Mosallam and Ferguson dominated Wayne County by beating Foster and the other Republican candidate, Jeff Sakwa, by more than 300,000 votes each.

Since Foster lost the election, the trustees will have to elect a new vice chairperson at the first meeting of 2013, Trustee Dianne Byrum said.

However, she said each trustee shares an equal amount of responsibility, and said the role of the vice chairperson is to ensure the board remains bipartisan.

Although some believed the incumbents would be re-elected to the board, Byrum was sure President Barack Obama would win Michigan, which had a direct impact on the trustee race.

“It shouldn’t have been a surprise to anyone,” Byrum said. “The educational board usually follows (the party) of who wins the state.”

During his MSU career, Mosallam was a member of the MSU football team and currently is a financial adviser.

Mosallam said he is very excited to start catching up on projects at MSU and reaching out to other trustees to build continuity.

Mosallam said in previous State News articles he believes it is very important to watch university costs and maintain tuition so it is affordable for students.

“I’m excited to work, especially with students,” Mosallam said after staying up through the night to see the results. “I want to be the voice of students.”

Foster said although it is a little early to think about running in the next trustee election, she said she definitely will think about it.

She did say she is very proud of her career in higher education, one that spans nearly two decades, and the positives that came during her time on the board.

“(There are) so many things we have done,” Foster said. “So many academic programs are top in the country, (and) we still remain one of the top 50 public universities in the U.S.”