Obama and McCain Win Saint Patrick Mock Primaries
January 24, 2008

Saint Patrick High School conducted a mock Presidential Primary on January 24, 2008. On the Democratic side of the ballot Illinois Senator Barack Obama won in a landslide, garnering a whopping 78% of the vote. New York Senator Hilary Clinton finished second with 14% of the vote. Arizona Senator John McCain collected 49% of the vote to easily defeat a crowded field on the Republican side. McCain didn’t get a majority of votes, but he easily outdistanced former New York Governor Rudy Giuliani (16%), former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee (13%), former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney (11%), and Texas Congressman Ron Paul (10%)

With a total of 400 ballots cast, over 40% of the students at Saint Patrick voted in the primary. That number was well over the 30% voter turnout in the 2000 and 2004 Illinois Presidential Primaries, and it might serve as an indicator that voter turnout for the 2008 Illinois Presidential Primary, on February 5, will be higher than it has been in the past. With a full slate of candidates in closely contested races, turnout for the early primaries has been up across the country.

As you would expect, in a city as predominantly Democratic as Chicago, there were far more ballots cast on the Democratic side than on the Republican side. A total of 299 students chose to vote in the Democratic Primary, while only 101 selected a Republican ballot.

This project was made possible by the United States Hispanic Leadership Institute, which sponsors Project SED (Students for an Educated Democracy). In addition to providing ballots, voting booths, and booklets of information on primary elections, representatives from Project SED came in and conducted a registration drive at Saint Patrick, getting students registered to vote in the primary.