Pine Tree School students choose Benson, Shaheen, Clark

Students at Pine Tree School in Center Conway went to the polls yesterday, a precursor to what their parents will be doing Tuesday. The students chose Republican Craig Benson for governor by almost a two to one margin, Democrat Jeanne Shaheen for U.S. Senate, and Democrat Martha Fuller Clark for U.S. Congress.The students were taking part in the National Student-Parent Mock Election. The organization asked a number of schools around the state to participate in a mock election and help offer insight into the race for governor, U.S. Senate and U.S. Congress. The polls opened at 10:45 a.m. yesterday and the votes were tallied before 3 p.m.In the race for governor, Benson received 86 votes while Democratic challenger Mark Fernald received 46, and Libertarian candidate John Babiarz got 14.Shaheen received 70 votes for the U.S. Senate seat while Republican John E. Sununu got 55; and Libertarian Kenneth Blevens garnered 19.In the race for U.S. Congress, Fuller-Clark got 67 votes, Republican Jeb Bradley 58, and Libertarian Dan Belforti 24.