High school students participating in the California student mock elections cast at least 13,084 votes for Gloria La Riva/Dennis Banks, the Peace and Freedom Party and only socialist candidates on the California ballot. As of Oct. 14, the end of the vote collection period, La Riva had nearly 7 percent of the 187,537 votes counted.
Hillary Clinton/Tim Kaine received 109,662 (58.47%), Donald Trump/Mike Pence 36,881 (19.67%), Gary Johnson/William Weld 14,910 (7.95%), Gloria La Riva/Dennis Banks 13,084 (6.98%), and Jill Stein/Ajamu Baraka 13,009 (6.94%).
La Riva commented on the results saying: “When matched up against the capitalist candidates, socialists fare far better when their program and views are not blocked by the corporate media. This mock election is proof of the high numbers and support that socialist candidates like us can get from working class people in the U.S.
“Students are increasingly aware of the problems in their society. They know when their family is struggling to get by, or doesn’t have stable housing or enough food to live on. Students experience the pain and insecurity of capitalism. Nearly a decade of the so-called great recession has only hastened the exposure of this system for what it really is.
“Our campaign calls for the immediate end of the inequalities in this society. It’s not right that billionaires get to live with all the comforts of our wildest dreams. They soak up wealth without even having to work a day in their life.”
La Riva concluded: “We call for a movement where regular working and poor people can take back political power from the rich and ensure their own needs and priorities are met first. We call for socialism and think that this will become a popular call in November and into the future.”
