Trump - Sanders - top choices in Tama county students' straw poll.

Bernie Sanders was the top choice in the Democratic race while Donald Trump narrowly won out on the Republican side in Tama County High Schools Straw Poll voting on Tuesday.

The voting comes on the eve of the Iowa Caucuses, the nation’s first test of preference for the major parties’ presidential candidates in the 2016 campaign for the White House.

The poll, organized by Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate, mirrored the state-wide totals. In them, Sanders garnered 53 percent to 30 percent for Hillary Clinton. Trump was the choice of 25 percent state-wide on the GOP side, with Ben Carson and Marco Rubio tied at 18 percent each, in second place.

In South Tama voting, Donald Trump received 29 votes with Ted Cruz next at eight for Republicans in the field. At Meskwaki Settlement School, Ted Cruz topped vote-getters at 30, with Ben Carson polling 29 and Marco Rubio 25. More than a dozen candidates received voters at Meskwaki on the Republican side.

For Democrats, Bernie Sanders received 74 votes with Hillary Clinton netting 12 at South Tama. Sanders was also the choice at Meskwaki School receiving 91 votes to 32 for Clinton.

State-wide more than 50,000 students took part in the straw poll according to the Secretary of State’s Office.

“I think it’s important that young people’s voices are heard and that we give them an early opportunity to participate in our elections. I hope this is just the beginning of a lifetime of civics engagement for them,” Secretary of State Pate said. “I also hope Iowa maintains it’s first-in-the-nation status for a long time. It is vital to this state.”

It was noted some schools were unable to vote because they were closed due to weather. Those schools are expected to vote on Wednesday and their results will be added to the state-wide results.