The first ever statewide bipartisan Iowa Youth Caucus took place Thursday, Nov. 19. Twenty-two counties participated, bringing 971 Republican and 984 Democratic high school and middle school students together to take part in the mock-caucus, casting votes for the presidential candidate of their choice. Secretary of State Paul Pate, whose office organized the event in conjunction with the Republican and Democratic Parties of Iowa, said it was a fun and educational event for the students that he hopes will spur them to become involved and participate in civics in their communities. The statewide results showed a few surprising differences from the national polls, with the Republicans voicing their approval of Dr. Ben Carson as the nominee of choice at 22.35 percent. Donald Trump came in second with 15.25 percent of the vote and Marco Rubio rounded out the top three at 14.01 percent. On the Democratic side, Bernie Sanders was the hands-down favorite racking up 52.74 percent of the vote. Martin O’Malley was second with 24.09 percent and Hillary Clinton fell to third with 14.74 percent of the Democratic student’s votes. The full results can be found below.
The statewide results are below:
REPUBLICANS
Jeb Bush – 7.52%
Ben Carson – 22.35%
Chris Christie – 2.57%
Ted Cruz – 8.34%
Carly Fiorina – 5.25%
Mike Huckabee – 1.34%
Bobby Jindal – 0.93%
John Kasich – 2.27%
George Pataki – 0.82%
Rand Paul – 14.01%
Marco Rubio – 14.83%
Rick Santorum – 2.27%
Donald Trump – 15.25%
Other/Write-in – 1.54%
Total participants: 971
DEMOCRATS
Hillary Clinton – 14.74%
Martin O’Malley – 24.09%
Bernie Sanders – 52.74%
Uncommitted – 8.43%
Total participants: 984
