Georgetown, Del., Dec. 13, 2016: The 2016 election will be one to remember, and even more so for some lucky Sussex County students.

Sussex County Council, at its Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2016, meeting, announced the 2016 winners of the Election Year Scholarship Contest, recognizing six students – one grand prize recipient and five runners-up – with plaques and scholarship prizes for their winning efforts. This year’s contest was the ninth since its inception, and represented the best showing of participation among local students since at least 2010.

Students ages 18 and younger who are residents of the county and enrolled in public or private schools were invited to participate in the contest, which serves as a fun lesson about the American election process. To take part, students filled out a form on the County website to predict the winners of 20 national, state and local races in the Nov. 8 general election.

To break a tie, each entrant was asked to predict the total number of votes the winner of the presidential race would receive from Sussex County. Donald J. Trump, who won the election, collected 62,607 votes from Sussex County.

Students competed for one $200 scholarship prize, and five $100 runner-up prizes. One winner and five runners-up were declared, based on their predictions and the tie-breaking question, from a field of 430 participants. Those students were recognized at the County Council meeting Tuesday morning. The winner and five runners-up are:

• Winner Brandon Bradshaw, 17, a senior at Sussex Technical High School near Georgetown. Brandon correctly picked 19 of 20 races, with a tie-breaking prediction of 41,200 votes from Sussex County for the presidential race winner;
• First runner-up Brooke Ward, 17, a senior at Sussex Technical High School near Georgetown. Brooke correctly predicted 19 of 20 races, with a tie-breaking prediction of 37,682 votes from Sussex County for the presidential race winner;
• Second runner-up Dahria Kalmbach, 16, a junior at Indian River High School in Dagsboro. Dahria correctly predicted 19 of 20 races, with a tie-breaking prediction of 350,000 votes for the presidential race winner;
• Third runner-up Samuel Rojas, 17, a senior at Indian River High School in Dagsboro. Samuel correctly predicted 18 of 20 races, with a tie-breaking prediction of 60,000 votes for the presidential race winner;
• Fourth runner-up Keith Chatterton, 18, a senior at Indian River High School in Dagsboro.  Keith correctly predicted 18 of 20 races, with a tie-breaking prediction of 75,000 votes for the presidential race winner;
• Fifth runner-up Julia Swingle, 14, a ninth-grader at Sussex Academy in Georgetown. Julia correctly predicted 18 of 20 races, with a tie-breaking prediction of 43,000 votes for the presidential race winner to capture the last prize.

County Administrator Todd F. Lawson said the students and their families should be proud of their accomplishments.

“Predicting election outcomes can be a tricky endeavor, as we saw in the most recent election,” Mr. Lawson said. “These young people did what a lot of the so-called experts couldn’t do, so congratulations to them. Win or lose, it’s inspiring to see so many students taking an interest in our political process.”

While the top student won a $200 scholarship prize, the five runners-up were not left empty handed. Each won a $100 scholarship. All of the scholarships are to be paid upon a student’s enrollment in college or another post-high school educational program. Funding comes through councilmanic grants, as well as from the Moore & Rutt law firm.

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