Washington students choose Clinton, Inslee in mock election

Renton student results were similar to those state-wide

If Washington students had their way, Hillary Clinton would get this state’s 12 electoral votes in this week’s presidential election. In addition, Gov. Jay Inslee would cruise to re-election, as would Sen. Patty Murray.

Those are the results of this year’s “mock election” in which a near-record 38,528 K-12 students cast their votes on this year’s ballot issues.

Nearly 50 percent of students voted for Democratic nominee Clinton for president, while nearly 30 percent selected Republican nominee Donald Trump. Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson received 8.2 percent, while the Green Party’s Jill Stein garnered 5.6 percent.

In the U.S. Senate race, about 63 percent of students picked Democratic incumbent Murray over Republican challenger Chris Vance (37.1 percent.)

For governor, Democratic incumbent Inslee took in about 57.3 percent of the votes, besting Republican challenger Bill Bryant (42.7 percent).

In addition to the candidates of their choice, students also “approved” three initiatives. More than 64 percent voted for I-1433 (minimum wage). I-1491 (restricting access to firearms) was approved by more than 68 percent, and nearly 53 percent passed I-735 (petition to overturn Citizens United ruling of Supreme Court).

King County students also voted on Charter Amendment No. 2 (gender-neutral language), with nearly 60 percent approving.

According to a break-down of results, Renton generally mirrored the state-wide results.

Renton students voted for Clinton in higher numbers, gaining 56.35 percent of the vote to Trump’s 18.25 percent. In the gubernatorial race, Inslee grabbed 65.08 percent of the Renton vote while Murray garnered 72.22 percent of the ballots cast.

In the initiatives, Renton students approved I-1491 with an 80 percent margin, much higher than state average, and on the I-735, Renton students again went beyond the state average, with 62.86 percent voting for the initiative.

So do the kids’ votes match their parents? Tune in later this week to find out!