As their names were called, Connor Buehler and Alex Forbes drew cheers from a crowd of loyal supporters, including Smurfs, zombies, hipsters, superheroes and athletes.It was those characters and others who helped the two clinch the election Thursday for president and vice president of Piney Grove Middle School.As part of a lesson on the U.S. presidential election process, the school’s sixth- and seventh-graders gathered in the gym to watch a mock presidential convention as eighth-graders represented 18 “states,” or homeroom classes. The classes ranged from State of Smurfs to State of Camouflage.“We spent two weeks planning it and it was so much fun,” said Isabelle Englund, a member of the State of North Pole. Clad in reindeer antlers, members of her group paraded around the gym pulling a student dressed as Santa Claus on a chair with wheels.Like Englund’s group, each state got the chance to show off costumes to their younger classmates before casting their state’s electoral college vote.And each of the 18 eighth-grade states had one electoral college vote.