Students choose governor, mirror media polls

FRANKFORT — Students at Kentucky’s public universities have made their choices known for their preferred nominees in the 2007 Kentucky gubernatorial primary.

Students mirrored current media polls across the state showing tight races in both the Republican and Democratic primaries with the slates headed by Gov. Ernie Fletcher and Treasurer Jonathan Miller winning each primary, respectively.

The mock election was sponsored by the Office of Secretary of State Trey Grayson as part of the Civic Literacy Initiative of Kentucky.

“We were delighted that so many students took time out of their busy college schedules to participate in the mock election, register to vote and learn more about absentee voting,” Grayson said. “We hope that this will begin a lifelong commitment to voting among these young people.”

The voter percentages for each candidate slate were as follows:

Republican Primary:

-Ernie Fletcher/Robbie Rudolph – 44.6 percent
-Billy Harper/Dick Wilson – 15.1 percent
-Anne Northup/Jeff Hoover – 40.3 percent

Democratic Primary:

-Steve Beshear/Daniel Mongiardo – 15.2 percent
-Gatewood Galbraith/Mark Wireman – 9.3 percent
-Steve Henry/Renee True – 7.1 percent
-Otis “Bullman” Hensley/Richard Robbins – 7.6 percent
-William Bruce Lunsford/Gregory Stumbo – 9.3 percent
-Jonathan Miller/Irv Maze – 35.0 percent
-Jody Richards/John Y. Brown, III – 16.4 percent

Under Kentucky law, there would be a primary runoff election in the Democratic Party because the top candidate failed to garner 40 percent of the vote. Thus, in this mock primary, Miller and Richards’s slates would face another election to determine the Democratic Party nominee.

Because of the short time frame before many universities’ final examination period, the Office of the Secretary of State will not conduct a runoff election on the college campuses.

Fletcher’s slate would be the Republican nominee for the general election because his slate received more than 40 percent of the vote and received the most votes.

Seven universities participated in the mock primary tour: Kentucky State University, Western Kentucky University, Murray State University, Eastern Kentucky University, Northern Kentucky University, the University of Kentucky and the University of Louisville.