Binghamton University saw a record turnout in voter participation on Tuesday, with 2,480 students casting ballots. Democrats received the majority of votes for each race on the ballot, despite sweeping Republican victories.
The 2,480 presidential votes cast was a 44 percent increase from 2012, where 1,719 votes were cast for president. The 2012 turnout was already a 35 percent increase from 2008. Campus votes accounted for 3.2 percent of all votes cast for president in the county as well.
405 votes were cast on campus for Republican President-elect Donald Trump, while 1,798 ballots were cast for Democratic runner-up Hillary Clinton. Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson received 94 votes, and Green Party candidate Jill Stein gained 69 votes.
Claudia Tenney, the newly elected Republican congresswoman from the 22nd District, received 399 votes from campus voters, while Democrat Kim Myers received 1,714. Martin Babinec, an Independent, received 81 votes.
In the State Senate race for the 52nd District, Republican incumbent Fred Akshar won the election, but only received 473 campus votes, while his opponent Democrat Sharon Ball received 1,656 votes.
Broome County Democrats won in the New York State Assembly, Broome County Executive and U.S. Senate races, and campus votes reflected these victories. Democratic Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo took 1,648 campus votes to Republican Dorollo Nixon’s 452 in the Assembly race, and Democrat Jason Garnar unseated incumbent Republican Debbie Preston in the Broome County executive race while earning 1,721 campus votes to Preston’s 404.
Finally, Democrat incumbent Chuck Schumer received 1,824 votes from on-campus voters in the U.S. Senate race, while Republican Wendy Long received 339. Green Party candidate Robin Laverne Wilson received 74 votes and Libertarian Alex Merced received 32.
Jonathan Krasno, an associate professor of political science, said that BU should be proud of its political engagement, and Broome County politicians should take this unprecedented turnout into consideration.
“The adult [politicians] of the county may resist it, but there can’t be any doubt that campus has established itself as a major source of votes in elections,” Krasno wrote in an email. “Hopefully that means in the future our efforts will be reinforced by the campaigns paying attention to our students.”