Last in a series

Kids Voting results for kids, adults

The majority of St. Louis county and city kids in the 2004 Kids Voting program didn't favor President George W. Bush in balloting last month. But, then, a majority of St. Louis county and city adults didn't either.

However, a majority of both kids and adults in St. Charles and Jefferson counties did follow the national trend in re-electing President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.

Young Saint Louis.com has followed Missouri's Kids Voting program for several years. It is sponsored by the University of Missouri-St. Louis' College of Education. (This year, YSL.com featured Kids Voting stories in October and November. See Past Stories.)

Kids from school districts across the state took part in pre-election activities. And, then, on election day, the kids voted with the same type of ballots as adults did. Most of the time, the kids voted in the same polling stations as their parents and other adults.

Nationwide, President Bush and Vice President Cheney beat Democratic challengers John Kerry and John Edwards. Bush-Cheney also got a majority of adult Missourians.

As a part of the post-election coverage, this YSL.com story comparing votes made by kids in the Kids Voting 2004 program with results of adult voting in the same areas.

For a breakdown of all vote totals, there are two neat websites to check. For complete Kids Voting 2004 results, visit www.umsl.edu/services/kidsvoting. For complete adult voting results, visit the Missouri secretary of state's website at www.sos.state.mo.us.

(For some other interesting comparisons in the St. Louis metro area, see sidebar below.)

In final results in Missouri adult voting, the Bush-Cheney ticket polled 1,452,715 votes, or 53.4%. Kerry-Edwards totaled 1,253,879 votes, or 46.1% of the total.

In the statewide Kids Voting 2004 balloting, Kerry-Edwards held a 92,100 to 73,699 margin. That's 54% to 44%.

The Kerry-Edwards ticket had a bigger majority among kids in St. Louis city and county.

The St. Louis city kids favored Kerry-Edwards by a 22,440-to-3,184 margin. That's 85% to just 12% for Bush Cheney.

In St. Louis County, kids favored Kerry-Edwards by a 46,324-to-28,122 margin. That was 60 % for Kerry-Edwards to 36% for Bush-Cheney.

In adult voting, Bush-Cheney won with big margins in other parts of the state.

In Kids Voting 2004, that trend was the same. Bush-Cheney got the majority of kids votes in all other sections of the state, including the city of Kansas City. In the adult voting, Kansas City favored Kerry-Edwards but none of the other areas did.

The Bush-Cheney dominance in suburban and rural areas showed up in kids voting in St. Charles and Jefferson counties.

The kids voting in St. Charles were in the Francis Howell School District. There, Bush-Cheney was favored by kids by a 9,114 to 5,043 margin. That's 63% to 35%.

The Fox C-6 district represented kids voting in Jefferson County. There, Bush-Cheney had a 4,628 to 3704 margin, or 53% to 43%.

In the U.S. Senate race, the majority of St. Louis city and county kids and adults also didn't back the winner.

Sen. Christopher (Kit) Bond won re-election over Democrat Nancy Farmer in statewide adult voting results. Bond collected 1,574,793 votes, to just 1,153,422 for Farmer. That's a 56.1% to 42.7% margin.

Bond's total vote total was more than those gained by Bush-Cheney.

In statewide Kids Voting 2004 totals, Farmer outpolled Bond, 70,915 to 67,118. That's a 48% to 45% margin. (When the percentages don't add up to 100%, that's because there were votes for minor candidates that add to overall totals.)

Farmer also had majorities among kids in St. Louis city and county. But, again, Republican Bond was the winner among kids in St. Charles and Jefferson counties.

In the city of St. Louis, the St. Louis Public School kids favored Farmer by 15,213 to 5,291. That's 68% to just 24% for Bond.

In St. Louis county, the kids favored Farmer by 34,675 to 27,297 or 53% to 41%.

In the St. Charles area, Bond's margin was 7,234 to 4,516. That's 48% to 41%.

And, in Jefferson County, Bond was favored by kids, 3,534 to 3,016. That's 48% to 41%.

(For a story and sidebar of the Kids Voting 2000 results, click to December, 2000, in the Past Stories archives.)

 

How other kids-adult voting compares

The trend of the St. Louis city and county kids voting Democratic while St. Charles and Jefferson county kids voted more Republican continued in other state rates.

Here are some examples, complete with adult voting from the same areas:

For Governor:
	Jefferson County Adults
Claire McCaskill (Dem)	45,909	49.2%
Matt Blunt (Rep)	45,891	49.2%
	Kids, Fox C-6
Claire McCaskill (Dem)	3,219	43%
Matt Blunt (Rep)	3,836	51%
	St. Charles County Adults
Claire McCaskill (Dem)	70,159	42.8%
Matt Blunt (Rep)	91,825	56.0%
	Kids, Francis Howell
Claire McCaskill (Dem)	4,735	37%
Matt Blunt (Rep)	7,740	60%
	City of St. Louis Adults
Claire McCaskill (Dem)	111,236	77.9%
Matt Blunt (Rep)	29,331	20.5%
	Kids, St. Louis Public Schools
Claire McCaskill (Dem)	15,938	70%
Matt Blunt (Rep)	5,613	25%
	St. Louis County Adults
Claire McCaskill (Dem)	295,812	54.8%
Matt Blunt (Rep)	238,184	44.1%
	14 County School Districts
Claire McCaskill (Dem)	36,580	54%
Matt Blunt (Rep)	28,229	42%

 

For Lt. Governor:
	Jefferson County Adults
Bekki Cook (Dem)	46,282	51.2%
Peter Kinder (Rep)	41,616	46.0%
	Kids, Fox C-6
Bekki Cook (Dem)	2,115	39%
Peter Kinder (Rep)	2,140	40%
	St. Charles County Adults
Bekki Cook (Dem)	66,928	42.7%
Peter Kinder (Rep)	86,313	55.1%
	Kids, Francis Howell
Bekki Cook (Dem)	3,092	35%
Peter Kinder (Rep)	4,609	51%
	City of St. Louis Adults
Bekki Cook (Dem)	107,395	77.4%
Peter Kinder (Rep)	27,196	19.6%
	Kids, St. Louis Public Schools
Bekki Cook (Dem)	8,348	62%
Peter Kinder (Rep)	2,001	15%
	St. Louis County Adults
Bekki Cook (Dem)	284,833	53.8%
Peter Kinder (Rep)	235,267	44.4%
	14 County School Districts
Bekki Cook (Dem)	22,017	48%
Peter Kinder (Rep)	15,581	34%