Who do College Republicans support for President? I ran a poll for the local College Republicans club at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (which I took part in). About fifteen people took place in it (including myself). The results were surprising, though not likely as accurate, considering there are more than fifteen College Republicans. These are the results.

Rand Paul and Marco Rubio tied for first at five votes each. Ted Cruz had three, putting him in third place while Ben Carson and Donald Trump received one vote each. None of the other candidates received a vote and the bottom four (Graham, Pataki, Gilmore, and Santorum) didn’t appear on the poll. The poll was conducted online, with each person voting once.

This is not representative of the club at large. There are several Republicans on campus who have not taken part of the poll nor have the campus been polled either. Surprisingly, the campus seems to be more conservative than most campuses, as the backlash against SLO Solidarity seems to suggest. Several students have spoken out against the group (such as myself) and opposed the demands.

The three freshman senators seem to have the most support from young folks in SLO, though Ben Carson and Donald Trump also have support as well. It seems most likely that only Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, and Ted Cruz can truly energize the youth (Rand Paul with Students for Rand is the most prominent example) while Donald Trump and Ben Carson may not be able to do as well.

The youth vote is important for the GOP to win. Obama won the youth vote back in 2008 and 2012.

If the GOP doesn’t win the youth vote or at least split it with the Democrats, the Democratic nominee (Hillary Clinton) will win. That is why candidates are reaching out to college students. Rand Paul and Marco Rubio have especially hit hard on it, with Marco Rubio making higher education one of his vocal points and Rand Paul campaigning at colleges more than others. Both have made strides to connect to students.

It’s interesting to see the split between Rubio and Paul in this poll. Both are different on everything from foreign policy to military spending and NSA spying. Both have hit each other over and over for perceived weaknesses and faults. It goes to show how different each candidate is.