DES MOINES – More than 3,000 visitors cast votes in Secretary of State Paul Pate’s annual Iowa State Fair Straw Poll. The questions included Iowans’ choice for governor, favorite college mascot, and favorite fair food. The poll was conducted at Secretary Pate’s booth throughout the State Fair, August 10-20.
Kim Reynolds was the winner in the Republican field for governor, garnering 77 percent of the vote. Ron Corbett finished second, with 12 percent. Nate Boulton emerged as the favorite amongst Democrats, with 38 percent. Fred Hubbell placed second, at 17 percent. Jake Porter picked up support from 52 percent of those casting votes for the Libertarian nominee for governor. Marco Battaglia garnered 32 percent support. 441 of the 3,144 voters, equaling 14 percent, selected “Other Party”.
Pork Chop on a Stick earned the most votes among six choices for Favorite State Fair Food, with 23 percent. Corn Dog placed second, with 17 percent, and Cookies in a Cup finished a close third, at 16 percent.
Herky the Hawkeye was the preferred choice for State Fair visitors’ favorite college mascot. Herky edged out Iowa State University’s Cy, 40-37 percent. The difference was only 115 votes.
“I want to thank the thousands of Iowans who visited our State Fair booth and cast a ballot in the straw poll, registered to vote, wrote a tribute through our Honor a Veteran program, or registered their business online with Google,” Secretary Pate said. “Special thanks to the Iowa League of Heroes, who were wonderful to work with for our #BeAVoter campaign. I also appreciate the folks at Iowa’s Small Business Development Centers and Google for partnering with us again to help Iowa’s businesses grow.”
Full results are available at the Iowa Secretary of State’s website, sos.iowa.gov.
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