Maine students back Donald Trump in mock election

Maine students backed Donald Trump in a Tuesday mock election.
In his race against Democrat Kamala Harris, Trump walked away with 52 percent of the vote, compared with 41 percent for the sitting vice president, according to the Maine secretary of state’s office, which released the results Wednesday.
They were trailed by Justice for All party candidate Cornel West and Green Independent Jill Stein, who each had about 2 percent of the vote.
“Participating in a mock election is an excellent, hands-on way for students to learn about voting and our electoral system,” Secretary of State Shenna Bellows said in a Wednesday statement. “Kudos to the Maine educators who make these lessons available and realistic for their students.”
About 115 schools participated in the mock election.
It’s not the first time Maine students backed the Republican in a mock election. In 2016, Trump won with a plurality over Democrat Hillary Clinton (42 percent to 40 percent). That year Clinton prevailed in the statewide vote, but Trump peeled away the 2nd Congressional District’s one electoral vote.
In 2020, Maine students backed Democrat Joe Biden over Trump 50 percent to 42 percent, respectively. Biden won the statewide vote that year, but in a repeat performance, Trump walked away with the 2nd District’s electoral vote.
Those results come less than a week before Election Day and as Decision Desk HQ, the Bangor Daily News’ national election results partner, currently has the former president as the slight favorite over Harris in the final week.
Former President Bill Clinton will campaign for Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, in southern Maine on Friday.
In other races, a plurality of students backed independent U.S. Sen. Angus King, Democratic U.S. Rep. Jared Golden of the 2nd District and Democratic U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree of the 1st District. If we see similar results on Election Day, the races would move to an instant runoff under Maine’s ranked-choice voting system in which the votes of the lowest vote-getters would be reallocated to the remaining candidates until one of them hits a simple majority.