While it’s safe to predict that the majority of the votes cast on campus today will support Democratic candidate President Barack Obama, Stanford has not always been so solidly blue. The Daily took a look back through its archives to see how the Stanford community has voted in presidential elections past.
1934: Results from Palo Alto precincts showed 4,373 votes for Republican President Herbert Hoover, and 2,310 for Democratic Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt (“Palo Alto District Backs Herbert Hoover in Election Vote,” Nov. 9, 1932).
1948: In a survey conducted by The Daily, 67.7 percent of Stanford voters favored Republican Governor Thomas E. Dewey and 33.3 percent supported Democratic President Harry Truman (“Students’ GOP Preference Consistent With Past Polls,” Nov. 2, 1948).
1960: Results from the four precincts located on the Stanford campus showed 459 votes were for Democratic Senator John F. Kennedy and 407 for Republican Vice President Richard Nixon (“Stanford goes for Kennedy,” Nov. 9, 1960).
1964: Results from the seven precincts located on the Stanford campus showed that 1,304 voters supported Democratic President Lyndon B. Johnson and 383 supported his Republican opponent, Senator Barry Goldwater (“Stanford for LBJ; Against Murphy, 14,” Nov. 4, 1964).
1984: Results from campus precincts showed that 71 percent of voters supported Democratic Vice President Walter Mondale, and 28 percent favored Republican Governor Ronald Reagan (“How Stanford voted,” Nov. 8, 1984).
1992: Results from campus precincts showed 75.4 percent of voters supported Democratic Governor Bill Clinton, 14 percent voted for Republican President George H.W. Bush and 9.6 percent for independent candidate Ross Perot (“Stanford voters support Democrats,” Nov. 5, 1992).
1996: Results from 11 campus precincts showed 70.2 percent of voters supported Democratic President Bill Clinton, 13.6 percent Republican Senator Bob Dole and 10.4 percent independent candidate Ralph Nader.
2008: In an exit poll taken by The Daily, 89.12 percent of respondents supported Democratic Senator Barack Obama, and 9.52 percent favored Republican Senator John McCain. (“Stanford vote goes to Obama,” Nov. 4, 2008).
— Kurt Chirbas