Bernie Sanders thumped Hillary Clinton, and Marco Rubio eked out a one-vote victory over Donald Trump in a mock election this week at the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg.

Sanders collected 82 percent, or 70 of the 85 students who voted in the Democratic primary, while Clinton garnered only 14 votes. On the Republican side, Rubio got 20 of the 54 votes cast to nip Trump. The other Republicans lagged behind the front-runners: Ben Carson, 9 votes; Ted Cruz, 3 votes; John Kasich, 2 votes; and Rand Paul, who dropped out of the race in early February, still received a vote.

While voters in 12 states were casting ballots in the “Super Tuesday” primaries, 139 of UPG's estimated 1,700 students voted in the Republican and Democratic mock primaries. The event also gave students the opportunity to register to vote in the Pennsylvania primary April 26. Mock election organizers registered about 20 students to vote during the event.

Sanders' overwhelming victory on the campus came as no surprise to Paul Adams, associate professor of political science.

“His story has been strong with the college students and young voters,” Adams said, noting that Sanders' pledge to eliminate tuition for students attending public universities went over well on the campus.

On the Republican side, Rubio's narrow victory over Trump bucks the national trend.

“Maybe Rubio is seen as more of a Republican. I heard at least five or 10 times from the students who voted Republican, ‘Anybody but Trump,' ” Adams said.

Adams, who has helped with mock elections in 2008 and 2012, said between 150 and 300 students typically cast ballots, a number representing 10 to 20 percent of the campus population. The mock election was held Monday and Tuesday this year to increase “voter turnout.”

Engineering major and freshman Tristan Gibson, 18, of Turtle Creek voted for Ben Carson and said he's not satisfied with the way the Republican race has gone.

“Especially now, it's very oriented toward Trump,” Gibson said. “It seems to be more about who can beat the Democratic candidate, rather than electability. I'd rather pick someone I like, rather than someone I can deal with.”

Gibson said Carson represents values that he holds important.

“I'm a Christian, and he's the closest to my values and morals,” he said. “Trump is not, and the other candidates also don't talk about that too much.”

Daniel Laughlin, 23, a senior from Uniontown who helped work the mock voting station, had not voted yet when he stopped to talk about the presidential race.

“I'm a registered Republican, and I subscribe to a more libertarian economic model, so that's important to me when I decide who to vote for,” said Laughlin, president of Pi Sigma Alpha, the national political science honor society.

“I see a lot of anger in politics, with the rise of Sanders and Trump,” he said. “Republican voters are ticked off that Republicans haven't been seen as fighters. They're ready for a change — maybe not Trump, although a lot of people are for him, unfortunately.”

Freshman Jared John, 19, cast his vote for Sanders, but not without reservation.

“To be honest, I don't really like either of (the Democratic candidates),” he said. “The race hasn't been that entertaining. I think Bernie and Hillary are too good of friends, and I don't like that.”

Patrick Varine is a Tribune-Review staff writer. He can be reached at 724-850-2862 or pvarine@tribweb.com.

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