More than 64,000 students throughout Virginia and New Jersey cast ballots in the YLI Mock Election, "electing" Republican Jerry Kilgore and Democrat Jon Corzine as their respective state Governors. Students voted over the last two weeks in the nation's largest online, student-only mock election, using electronic cyber ballots specifically tailored to each student's home-voting location.

Students in Virginia split the ticket by electing Republican Jerry Kilgore as Governor but also Democrat Leslie Byrne for Lieutenant Governor. Republican Bob McDonnell won the race to be Virginia's next Attorney General.

The following vote totals represent the results for the 2005 Youth Leadership Initiative Mock Election:

GOVERNOR – Virginia
Jerry Kilgore (R) – 44.00%
Tim Kaine (D) – 42.07%
Russ Potts (I) – 11.76%

LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR – Virginia
Leslie Byrne (D) – 48.59%
Bill Bolling (R) – 48.14%

ATTORNEY GENERAL – Virginia
Bob McDonnell (R) – 52.86%
Creigh Deeds (D) – 44.15%

GOVERNOR – New Jersey
Jon Corzine (D) – 41.67%
Doug Forrester (R) – 36.47%

"Given the unprecedented level of interest and participation in this year's YLI Mock Election, the future of democracy in state government looks promising," said Lea Brown, YLI Director of Instruction. "Students are showing increasing interest in state officials. This is important, as state government plays a huge role in their education."

Students in Virginia also voted for their local representative to the House of Delegates. Statewide tallies showed the House of Delegates remaining under Republican control. The breakdown of results by party included 59 Republican winners, 37 Democratic winners, 2 independent winners, and 2 races that ended in ties (the 46th and 87th districts). For complete YLI Mock Election results, visit the YLI Mock Election results page.

The YLI Mock Election is an academic exercise. It is not a true random sample of public opinion among America's K-12 student population and is therefore not designed to be predictive of the general election.