Kids call it: Hillary Clinton wins student vote
Hillary Clinton won the student vote.
Stock image.
The students overwhelmingly chose Clinton as the next president, giving the Democratic candidate 52 percent of the vote. The Republican, Donald Trump, won only 35 percent of the 153,000 votes cast by students in kindergarten through 12th grades. The remainder of the vote -- 13 percent -- was split among write-in and third-party candidates, according to Scholastic, a company known for producing readers designed to augment social studies and current events.
A company news release points out that the vote is not a “scientifically designed sample of the student population.” It is simply an educational activity. Even so, the student vote generally foretells the country's election results.
During the last 76 years, student voters were wrong only twice: In 1948, they elected Thomas E. Dewey over Harry S. Truman. And in 1960, Richard M. Nixon won more student votes than John F. Kennedy did.
If the student vote offers a window into the upcoming election -- and the way parents will vote -- Clinton will win traditionally Democratic states by substantial margins,nailing down California with 71 percent of the vote, for example.
But Clinton's kid-election landslide could also be attributed to Trump losing Republican strongholds. In Utah, for example, Clinton won with 44 percent of the vote, Trump took 27 percent, and nearly a third, 29 percent, voted for third-party or write-in candidates.
Related:
Clinton, Trump struggle to woo millennial voters
Clinton v. Trump: Who won the debate?
If you would like to comment give us a shout or like us on Facebook and tell us what you think.
