Connecticut students to vote on ‘kid governor’

WETHERSFIELD, Conn. (WTNH) — As results continue to pour in for federal and state races, there's another election involving much younger candidates currently underway.

More than 10,000 students from elementary schools across Connecticut are voting for the next "kid governor."

General Election Results

On Wednesday, the state's current kid governor and his cabinet members were welcomed by students at the CREC Discovery Academy in Wethersfield for an educational rally. It's one of several stops the young politicians are making at Connecticut schools in an effort to get other students excited about voting.

"This has been an incredible, amazing experience, and I know we're all here because I want to share this incredible experience with everyone else in all the schools in Connecticut," 2024 Kid Governor Cristiano Almeida said.

Over the past year, Almeida said his group of young politicians worked on his platform about keeping kids active.

"We just really hope to create communities here that are educated and take pride in their communities and knowing about our election process," said Serenity Zaebst, the coordinator of the kid government program.

Zaebst said staff are currently counting ballots from the thousands of students who voted this year. Once the results are in, they'll make a surprise announcement at the elected candidate's school over the next week.

"I think it's important, because it really shows what you care about and also gets you involved in the political process, which is really fun to get to see your fellow classmates vote," said Alexa Adgers, a member of the 2024 cabinet.

There are seven fifth grade students in the running for the next kid governor. Students who run for the job create a platform and record a campaign video to raise awareness of an important community issue they wish to address.

Here are the candidates in this year's election and their platform:

On Thursday, the kid governor election tour bus will be stopping at Bradley School in Derby, Beecher Road School in Woodbridge, Ross Woodward Classical Studies Magnet School in New Haven, John F. Kennedy Elementary School in Milford and John Winthrop School in Bridgeport.