Student Mock Primary Makes Obama, Romney Winners

If Saint Anselm students were to choose the parties’ presidential contenders, the 2008 race would be between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. That was the result of a campus-wide mock primary that drew 562 student ballots Nov. 28. It was the earliest known, large-scale mock primary vote to occur in the state.

Obama was the biggest overall winner with 151 votes. Hillary Clinton came in third overall and second among Democrats with 80 votes. Romney was the second-best vote getter overall with 83 votes. Rudy Guiliani was the runner up Republican, taking 72 votes.

In all, 176 student voters indicated they intend to participate in the New Hampshire Primary on Jan. 8.

New Hampshire’s First “First-in-the-Nation-Primary” Student Primary was organized by the Kevin Harrington Student Ambassadors at the college’s New Hampshire Institute of Politics.

Prior to the voting, students had the opportunity to meet many of the candidates in person. The Institute of Politics is a stop on the campaign trail for many presidential contenders, and CNN held presidential debates on campus in June. ABC will air back-to-back debates from the college Jan. 5.

Results from the Saint Anselm College Mock Primary are:

Republican Candidates
MITT ROMNEY: 83
RUDY GIULIANI: 72
JOHN McCAIN: 41
MIKE HUCKABEE: 26
RON PAUL: 26
FRED THOMPSON: 5
DUNCAN HUNTER: 1
TOM TANCREDO: 0

Democratic Candidates:
BARACK OBAMA: 151
HILLARY CLINTON: 80
JOHN EDWARDS: 30
JOE BIDEN: 23
BILL RICHARDSON: 17
DENNIS KUCINICH: 4
CHRIS DODD: 2
MIKE GRAVEL: 1

Photo by Alex Witkowicz ‘08

Media Coverage: WBZ-TV | Union Leader