Preceding the United States presidential election, Cherokee County held a mock election on Monday, October 31, to get a representation of Cherokee County students’ political views. Leading the poll with 52.87% of the votes was Donald Trump and Mike Pence. Following behind Trump/Pence was Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine with 35.95% of the votes. Third party candidates Gary Johnson and Jill Stein managed to scoop over ten percent of the total votes. The mock election gave us a great understanding of the political diversity in Cherokee County, and it also could give a glimpse of how South Carolina will vote on Tuesday.

Gaffney High School students have expressed their views on the upcoming election.

Bobby Lee (12^th) said that “[he] voted for Trump because [he is] an American and [he] wants to keep it that way.”

Spanish teacher Kristen Gautam voted for “Hillary Clinton because [she] believes in equal rights.”

Will Shehan, a junior at Gaffney High, “voted for Trump because [he] thinks he is well qualified to run the country like a business.”

Sophomore Casey Spencer voted for Gary Johnson because “he has fairly neutral belief of things. He’s not as radical as Trump, but he’s not a hippie like Hillary.”

Freshman Claire Seay said that “[she] voted for Trump because Hillary needs to be in jail and not running the country.”

And lastly, Coach Andy Holmes said “[he’s] voting Republican because [he’s] tired of paying for other people’s goods and services.”

We were very happy with the participation in the mock election. It is very relieving to see high school students so involved in politics. Hopefully it’s a sign that this election will be one of the greatest turnouts in history. Stay tuned for the results of the actual results of the presidential election, happening on November 8.