AP Government class holds mock election

Seniors in Kirk Abe's three AP Government classes had the opportunity to experience the democratic process up-close over the past month when they simulated political campaigns and voted for a president, chosen from multiple major American political parties. In each class, the results leaned Democratic.

In second period, senior Daniel Liu was the Democratic candidate, senior Alex Yagobi was the Republican candidate, and senior Matthew Kermin was the Libertarian candidate. Liu won the election in a landslide, beating Yagobi by more than 100 Electoral College votes.

For Liu, strong ad campaigning was the key to success.

Senior Rajat Vora, playing the role of a Fox News executive,  praised Liu for having “a really good campaign team and some pretty good commercials which helped persuade the swing states.

As for fourth period, Democratic candidate senior Zayne Khouja pulled ahead of Green Party candidate senior James Lorenz and Republican candidate senior Isaac Tang.

In Abe’s sixth-period class, senior Kailas Shekar, also a Democratic candidate, was the victor, beating his opponents Libertarian candidate senior Naman Sajwan and Republican candidate senior Daniel Jiang by over a hundred electoral votes.

“Kailas won because he did a good job in the debate and started off with higher numbers in the polls since he was a Democrat,” Libertarian campaign strategist senior Keshav Narayan said.

Students said the mock election kept them engaged and even informed about the current election process.

“I think it was a good hands-on or real-life situation,” Vora said. “It helped us learn how the election actually works.”