Invalid query: You have an error in your SQL syntax; check the manual that corresponds to your MySQL server version for the right syntax to use near 'BRIEN' GROUP BY ContestTitle ORDER BY SUM(TotalVotes) DESC' at line 1 Whole query: SELECT ContestTitle, SUM(TotalVotes), SUM(VotesGroup1), SUM(VotesGroup2), SUM(VotesGroup3) FROM elections_details WHERE ElectionID='24' AND CandidateName = 'JOHN D. O'BRIEN' GROUP BY ContestTitle ORDER BY SUM(TotalVotes) DESC