Local Caucus Turnout ‘Phenomenal’

WAITSBURG - Local Republicans are thrilled by the impressive turnouts at the two Republican Caucuses in Walla Walla and Dayton last weekend.

At the Wal la Wal - la County Fairgrounds last Saturday, Waitsburg resident Tom Baker said about 700 to 1,000 people crammed into the commutiy building to give their preference for the Republican Party candidate.

In Dayton at the Delany Building, about 75 people turned out, said Marilyn England, the treasurer of the Columbia County Republican Central Committee.

The results, as reported on Monday, put former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney ahead of the pack in Walla Walla County with 36.6 percent of the vote. Romney was followed by former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum with 31.3 percent, Texas Rep. Ron Paul with 16.2 percent and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich with 12.5 percent.

In Columbia County, it was Santorum who had the lead with 51.6 percent, followed by Paul with 21.9 percent, Romney with 14.1 percent and Gingrich with 4.7 percent.

Statewide, Romney was the frontrunner last Saturday after caucuses took place in every county. As of Monday, with 60 percent reporting, Romney had 37 percent of the vote, followed by Paul and Santorum tied with 24 percent and Gingrich with 11 percent.

While Walla Walla County was pretty close to the statewide results, Columbia County tends to vote very conservatively and local Republicans said they weren't shocked to see a difference between their voters and Walla Walla County voters.

"Columbia County is normally more conservative than the rest of the state," England said.

But, they have one thing in common, the large turnouts called "phenomenal" by some. England said she believed attendance was higher than normal because "we've got things to get done."

Virginia Romine, the Precinct Captain for Waitsburg, said the event in Walla Walla brought out about 700 people, compared to 200 in 2008. Romine said there was also a lot of diversity, from new voters to the elderly, some pushed strollers and some pushed walkers.

There were tables set up in the community building, one for each precinct. After each attendant signed in, confirming that they were registered voters, they filled out a piece of paper with their personal information and their preferred presidential candidate.

The caucus in Dayton was run in the same way, just with fewer people. Dwight Richter, the committeeman for the county's Republican Central Committee, said the numbers would have been higher, but many local voters were at the state basketball tournament in Spokane that day rooting on the Bulldog boys basketball team.\After the paperwork was completed, precinct committee officers were appointed and county delegates were elected.

After all of this business was taken care of, they discuss the platform issues to determine which are the most important to those in attendance. They ranked the importance of everything from protecting the global interests of the United States to how important it is for the government to support education.

Next, the county conventions will take place and delegates will be selected to go to the state convention. Walla Walla's county convention will be April 21 at the Marcus Whitman Hotel. Columbia County's convention will be at 6 p.m., March 31 at the Seneca Activity Center in Dayton.