DES MOINES – Nearly 40,000 votes have been tallied in Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate’s Fall 2018 Iowa Youth Straw Poll. Although some results continue to trickle in, Secretary Pate projects Kim Reynolds the winner in the gubernatorial race. Rod Blum, Christopher Peters, David Young and Steve King are the projected winners in Iowa’s four congressional races, respectively.

As of Wednesday, 39,937 votes had been tallied, with hundreds of schools participating, covering 92 counties. Secretary Pate invited every school and youth group in Iowa to take part in the straw poll. Most of the participants are high school students.

Locally, the number of students participating in the Iowa Youth Straw Poll include:

Orient/Macksburg School District: 67 students.

Southwest Valley High School (Adams County): 95 students.

Atlantic High School/Middle School & CAM School District: 351 students in total.

4RKidsHomeschool, AC/GC High School, Panorama Secondary School: 278 total.

Red Oak High School: 73 students participated.

Clarinda High School: 156 students participated.

Schools in Pott. County: 1,756 students altogether.

Harlan Community High School: 130 students.

Secretary of State Paul Pate said he wants to “Thank all the teachers, principals and staff that helped make the Youth Straw Poll possible, but most importantly, thank you to the 40,000 students who made their voices heard. This was hopefully a valuable, hands-on learning experience for them, and I hope all of them will continue to be a voter throughout their lives.”

The vast majority of participants, 84 percent, said they would register to vote when they old enough. Results are available on the Iowa Secretary of State’s website, sos.iowa.gov. The results are unscientific. The Iowa Youth Straw Poll is conducted for educational purposes only.