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January 24, 2008
State Caucuses Draw Good Numbers
By Dave Maxwell, Staff Writer
Mitt Romney’s win in the GOP Nevada caucus January 19 could be considered a landslide, and maybe even that word is not strong enough.
The former Massachusetts Governor, who mounted a serious campaign in the Silver State over his other seven Republican rivals the week before the caucus, took 52 percent of the vote, defeating his nearest challenger, Ron Paul, by nearly 40 percentage points.
More than 40,000 Republicans turned out for their caucuses, even though most of the media attention was on the Democratic side.
Texas Congressman, Ron Paul, did spend a little time in the state and came in second with 14 percent of the vote, edging out Arizona Senator John McCain, who finished with 13 percent.
Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee and former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson, both had 8 percent, although Huckabee had a few more votes than Thompson. Former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani only managed 4 percent. None of them visited Nevada the week before the caucus.
Exit poll results showed that 90 percent of the people who voted for Romney are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, as is Romney.
Nevada Republicans also stated that the economy and illegal immigration are the top problems facing the country. The war in Iraq and terrorism were third and fourth in importance respectively.
Romney did better among conservative Republicans, while McCain and Paul each got about one in five moderates, who make up about 20 percent of GOP voters.
The Republican caucus totals are based on a vote of statewide participants after they separately choose delegates to attend county conventions. Technically, the straw poll vote is separate from the delegate election, and is non-binding. Most of the delegates elected have promised to support Romney in the upcoming county conventions, where delegates to the state convention will be selected, but they could vote for someone else. At the GOP state convention, national delegates will be elected to attend the Republican National Convention in September in St. Paul, Minn.
In Lincoln County, the vote counts in each precinct were as follows:
| Town |
Alamo |
Caliente |
Panaca |
Pioche |
Rachel |
TOTAL |
| Precinct # |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
|
| Giuliani |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Huckabee |
5 |
3 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
14 |
| Hunter |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| McCain |
3 |
8 |
2 |
4 |
0 |
17 |
| Paul |
2 |
1 |
5 |
4 |
0 |
12 |
| Romney |
84 |
45 |
61 |
21 |
2 |
213 |
| Thompson |
4 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
10 |
| Totals |
98 |
59 |
72 |
33 |
4 |
266 |
The number of precinct delegates to attend the County Convention March 29 at the Caliente City Hall are 25 from Alamo; 23 from Caliente; 27 from Panaca; 21 from Pioche; and two from Rachel.
County Republican Chairman, Barbara Scoville, said at the County Convention, delegates will also have the opportunity to select up to 10 platform issues that they want submitted to the State Convention for possible consideration. Selected issues will be taken to the Platform Committee at the National Convention.
In the Democratic state caucus Hilary Clinton took a 2-1 edge over Barack Obama in Democratic nominating contests so far. Clinton picked up 51 percent of the Nevada vote compared to 45 percent for Obama, during a massive campaign conducted by both candidates. Former North Carolina Senator, John Edwards, was a very distant third with only 4 percent.
It was the second straight win for Mrs. Clinton, after a surprising win in New Hampshire on Jan. 8.
The Las Vegas Review Journal reported, “Clinton even took the majority of delegates in seven of the nine controversial at-large precincts, the specials sites for Strip workers that her campaign had complained were unfair because they were bound to be flooded with members of the Culinary Workers Union, which endorsed Obama.” But as it turned out, most of the Culinary workers voted for Clinton.
The Nevada Democratic caucuses drew nearly 116,000 participants, more than a quarter of the state’s registered Democrats. In November, Sen. Harry Reid had predicted that the caucus would draw over 100,000.
Exit polls released by MSNBC, showed Clinton had an edge with Hispanic voters, who made up 14 percent of caucus-goers statewide and favored her by 65 percent to Obama’s 20 percent. That block nearly neutralized the black vote, which made up 15 percent of Democratic caucus voters, who tallied 72 percent for Obama and 18 percent for Clinton.
Mrs. Clinton also carried Lincoln County. Lincoln County Democratic Party Chairman, Ron Hibble, released the following figures:
| Town |
Alamo |
Caliente |
Panaca |
Pioche |
Rachel |
TOTAL |
| Precinct # |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
|
| Clinton |
29 |
57 |
18 |
45 |
1 |
150 |
| Edwards |
0 |
47 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
48 |
| Obama |
22 |
0 |
6 |
34 |
0 |
62 |
| Undecided |
1 |
9 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
10 |
Pioche Delegates: Clinton 10, Obama 8
Panaca Delegates: Clinton 8, Obama 3
Caliente Delegates: Clinton 13, Edwards 10
Alamo Delegates: Clinton 11, Obama 6
The Lincoln County Democratic Convention will be held at the Olson Senior Center in Caliente on Saturday, February 23. The time of this convention will be announced at a latter date.
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