Kids Voting Kickoff at the Capitol

The elementary Kids Voting program got off to a great start on the Capitol grounds on September 28. Over 500 Saint Paul Public School students in grades 4-6 participated. Superintendent Meria Carstarphen was in the audience as several students delivered their hopes for the country, state, or city.

(Pictured is Mary Tachney’s 5th grade class from Franklin Music Magnet with Lars Sandstrom, Executive Director of Kids Voting Minnesota, at the 2006 Kickoff event.) 

St. Paul Students Vote for Klobuchar and Hatch

Kids Voting St. Paul voted to send Amy Klobuchar to the U.S. Senate and Mike Hatch to the governor’s mansion in the special Kids Voting election held on November 7, 2006, in conjunction with the official election.  Klobuchar with 8,522 votes led all candidates, easily defeating her major challenger Mark Kennedy who received 3,340 votes. In the governor’s race, St. Paul students disagreed with those who cast their ballots in the official election. Mike Hatch with 5,706 votes outpolled Tim Pawlenty (4,916 votes) and Peter Hutchinson (2,273 votes).

St. Paul students also voted to send Betty McCollum back to Washington to represent the 4th Congressional District in the U.S. House. In the race for Ramsey County Sheriff, kids preferred former St. Paul police chief Bill Finney to incumbent Bob Fletcher. The students also narrowly defeated the St. Paul school levy referendum by 50.5% to 49.5%.

Online voting this year was expanded to include all secondary students and a pilot program with six elementary schools. Nearly 11,000 of the 16,337 ballots cast were done online. The total number of Kids Voting ballots cast in 2006 represents an enormous increase in turnout over previous midterm elections.

Mahoney Named National Educator of the Year

Saint Paul Public Schools Social Studies Coach Lana Mahoney was named Kids Voting USA’s 2006 Educator of the Year after being nominated by Kids Voting St. Paul. In presenting the award at a board of directors meeting, President Roger Barr thanked Mahoney for helping coordinate the Kids Voting program since 2000 and for her role in making the program a success citywide.