Students vote Democrat in state’s mock election

By Maureen Raitz

Capital School District delegates Katie Pierce and Jack Knox, both seniors at Dover High School, stand outside House chambers in Legislative Hall Oct. 31, following the announcement of the Delaware Student/Parent Mock Election results. Capital students voted for Barack Obama and Joe Biden for U.S. president and vice president; Biden for U.S. Senate; Karen Hartley-Nagle for U.S. representative; Jack Markell for governor; Matt Denn for lieutenant governor; and Karen Weldin-Stewart for insurance commissioner.

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By Maureen Raitz, Editor

Dover Post

Fri Oct 31, 2008, 04:02 PM EDT

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Dover, Del. -

If the results of Delaware’s Student/Parent Mock Election are any indication of how citizens will vote on Tuesday, Democrats should be pleased, as schools voted overwhelmingly in their favor in national and statewide offices.

Results from the statewide mock election, which was held in schools throughout Delaware on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, were announced Friday at Legislative Hall. Two delegates from each school district, including charter and private schools, shared how their schools voted in the House chambers.

    The only Republican to win the votes of most Delaware districts was Mike Castle, who has been the state’s lone congressman in the U.S. House of Representative since 1993.

    John McCain’s only win for U.S. president came from the Wilmington Christian Academy.

    With more than 60,000 votes cast, Commissioner of Elections Elaine Manlove was pleased with the schools’ turnout.

    “It’s a great program. Everyone here is real enthusiastic about it,” Manlove said. It’s good to get [students] involved in the process early. It’s great for them to see how their votes counted.”

    In past years, the mock election has accurately predicted the results of Delaware’s voting.

    “Let’s just see if that holds true,” Manlove said of the upcoming election.

Mock election results (italics indicate winner)

United States president/vice president
Barack Obama/Joseph R. Biden Jr.                       44,778
John McCain/Sarah Palin                 14,983
Chuch Baldwin/Darrel L. Castle                              219
Cynthia A. McKinney/Rosa A. Clemente                   408
Ralph Nader/Matt Gonzalez           1,427
Bob Barr/Wayne A. Root           354
Roger Calero/Alyson Kennedy        152

United States senator
Joseph R. Biden Jr.                  39,295
Christine O’Donnell                13,274

United States representative
Michael N. Castle           22,491
Karen Hartley-Nagle                20,813
Mark Anthony Parks            4,542

Governor
Jack Markell                   35,645
William Swain Lee                  10,646
Jeffrey Brown                4,111

Lt. governor
Matthew Denn                                                        26,963
Charles L. Copeland                  14,829
Peter Cullen                   5,124

Insurance commissioner
Karen Weldin-Stewart            20,512
John F. Brady                   14,609
Tom Savage                   8,247
Karen Weldin-Stewart                                              3,817