Sens. Hillary Clinton and John McCain won the Oklahoma presidential primaries on Super Tuesday, and UCO students had similar reactions, whether democrat, republican or undeclared.
Clinton had 228,425 votes and won 24 of the state's 38 democratic delegates, 24 percent more than Senator Barack Obama's total of 130,087 votes and 14 delegates.
On the Republican ticket, McCain brought home 122,748 votes to Mike Huckabee's 110,486 and Mitt Romney's 83,018. McCain received 32 of the state's 38 republican delegates, with Huckabee taking the remaining 6.
Loren Gatch, political science professor said although the Oklahoma democratic primary went as expected, he feels the republican primary was not as decisive going in.
"While I don't think there was much doubt that Hillary Clinton was going to win in Oklahoma, the surge for McCain that has happened nationwide is clearly present in Oklahoma as well.
"Remember that people who participate in primary elections are not the same people who vote in the general election. In Oklahoma, only registered democrats and republicans could participate. Independent voters are not allowed to vote, and their priorities may be different from voters who already identify with one party or another," he said.
Gatch said previously withdrawn candidates had little influence on the election.
"For the Democrats, voters who would have gone for Edwards might have favored Obama, but Edwards was still on the ballot and got over 10 percent of the vote. Under the Democrats' rules, though, 10 percent wasn't enough to win any delegates.
"Even if all of Edwards' voters had been Obama's, Clinton would have still had a higher percentage. For the Republicans, Giuliani polled less than one percent - even Ron Paul got more than he did--but I suspect that Giuliani supporters went to McCain."
Kayce Martin UCO public relations junior said that she voted for McCain.
"I was very happy … he has experience especially with the war and economy. He is good with cutting wasteful cost. He does not beat around the bush," she said.
Kristin Poe, senior interpersonal communications major, said she was surprised by the overall results.
"I thought Oklahoma would've voted more for the republican candidates than the democrats … [because] I didn't think our state would vote for Clinton as much as they did," Poe said.
Poe said she thought Oklahoma was primarily a republican state, and she felt Huckabee would be a good republican nominee for president.
On the democrat's side, Jeanette Mirll, sophomore creative studies major, said she wasn't surprised by the primary results. She said although she is currently undeclared, she is considering registering as a republican, but added that she felt Clinton would be the best candidate for president.
Bethany Totten, junior journalism major, said she feels Clinton is the best candidate, "because she is the most experienced … and because she's been in that realm."
Rachel Carlton, a junior interpersonal communications major, said although she voted for Obama she likes both democratic candidates. She said she feels either candidate would do well as president.
Other students say they prefer Obama for the democratic nominee.
Brad Falkner, sophomore political science major, said he feels Obama has a "leg up" on Clinton.
"I think he's more likely to be the nominee than Hillary at this point."
Falkner said he feels McCain is the strongest Republican candidate. "I think if he matches up with Clinton in the general, I think it will be a very close election. I think Obama could really open up. He could either win big or lose big."
Gatch said, "While the results weren't decisive for either the Democrats or the Republicans, clearly McCain is now the frontrunner for the Republicans. We'll have a better idea of who might run in November after the next round of big state primaries in early March."
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