Ryan Boulanger, Editor-in-Chief
@Ryanbcourant
The Courant’s Mock Election, open to the entire NCHS student body, concluded this past Friday night. Polls opened on Tuesday afternoon, and a total number of 341 ballots were cast with a participation rate of 26.3% of the total student population. Let’s take a look at some of the most notable races:
The winner of the 2024 Presidential election was Democrat Kamala Harris, who won 50.7% of the vote. Republican nominee Donald Trump received an even 43% of the 337 votes cast in this race. The rest of the votes were split evenly between the Green Party’s Jill Stein and the Libertarian Party’s Chase Oliver, who both received 9 votes each.
The second-most voted-in race was the Connecticut U.S. Senate election. Incumbent Chris Murphy (D) won a plurality of the vote, receiving 45.2% of the 294 ballots cast in this election. Republican challenger Matthew Corey received a 34.7% share, with Cheaper Gas Groceries Party candidate Robert Hyde trailing a bit behind with 15.6%. The remaining 13 votes went to Green Party candidate Justin Paglino. Had this election been real no runoff election would have taken place, according to CT General Assembly laws.
Incumbent Jim Himes (D) won the Connecticut U.S. House District 4 election, with 48.8% of the 287 ballots cast, against Republican challenger Michael Goldstein with 40.4%. The remaining 31 votes went to Independent Benjamin Wesley.
Republican Incumbent Tom O’Dea won 53.3% of the votes in the State Representative District 125 election, while Democratic challenger Nick Simmons upset incumbent Ryan Fazio for the State Senate District 36 seat with 57.4% of the 291 ballots cast.
Participation amongst non-presidential elections remained relatively consistent, hovering around 281-294 votes. 293 respondents participated in the final question, identifying which party they align/are affiliated with. 111 respondents selected the Democratic Party, while 108 said they aligned with the Republican Party. A combined 74 respondents said they were either independents or “other”.
How does this data stack up against our last presidential election cycle? Let’s take another look:
According to data from Patch.com, in 2020 Joe Biden received a total of 58.7% of New Canaan votes. In our Mock Election Kamala Harris received 8 whole percentage points less. Donald Trump performed better at NCHS in 2024, receiving only 39.8% of New Canaan votes in 2020.
NCHS voted more conservative compared to Connecticut’s 59.2% vote share for Joe Biden in 2020. 538’s comprehensive polling model gives Harris a 58.5% chance of winning CT this election cycle.
Make sure to stay tuned for election results heading into Tuesday!
