by Lauren Langdon

Mr. Craig Whitney’s government class held a mock election at STA Nov. 1. (The Dart also held an election. The results can be found here.) They had a similar mock election in 2008. While 483 students voted, some individual votes were not counted because a question was left blank or had two answers. Students in Whitney’s class worked at a booth and counted the ballots.

“Considering we are a very conservative Catholic school, I expected [Governor Mitt] Romney to win,” senior Anna Heldt said. “From a few of the teachers I expected more Romney votes. Surprisingly [most] voted for [President Barack] Obama.”

Whitney also thought Romney would win STA’s mock election, but he does not think Romney will win the actual election. He cited New York Times writer Nate Silver’s posts about the election as evidence of Obama‘s reelection.

“I think it’s difficult to beat the incumbent,” Whitney said. “They have a built in advantage. To beat the person who already has the job, you got to pull out all the stops.”

[easychart type=”pie” title=”STA’s Mock Election: U.S. President and Vice President” groupnames=”Barack Obama (Joe Biden),Gary Johnson (James P. Gray),Mitt Romney (Paul Ryan),Virgil Goode (Jim Clymer),” group1values=”222″ group2values=”16″ group3values=”243″ group4values=”0″ chartfadecolor=”FFFFFF”]

[easychart type=”pie” title=”STA’s Mock Election: U.S. Senator” groupnames=”Claire McCaskill,Jonathan Dine,Todd Akin,” group1values=”266″ group2values=”52″ group3values=”165″ chartfadecolor=”FFFFFF”]

[easychart type=”pie” title=”STA’s Mock Election: Missouri Governor” groupnames=”Jeremiah W. (Jay) Nixon,Jim Higgins,David (Dave) Spence,” group1values=”216″ group2values=”41″ group3values=”223″ chartfadecolor=”FFFFFF”]

[easychart type=”pie” title=”STA’s Mock Election: U.S. Representative district 5″ groupnames=”Emanuel Cleaver II,Randall (Randy) Langkraehr,Jacob Turk,” group1values=”226″ group2values=”33″ group3values=”224″ chartfadecolor=”FFFFFF”]