Good Clark County Turnout Seen In Presidential Primary

By Mike Scott

Clark County voters turned out in good numbers for the Tuesday, February 5 presidential primary election.
Twenty-eight and a half percent of Clark County’s registered voters went to the polls Tuesday.
“That’s about twice what I expected,” Clark County Clerk Leih Ann Hayden said.  The turnout is about twice that of the 2004 primary.
On the Republican side, Mike Huckabee was the clearcut favorite, getting 283 vote.  John McCain received 195, while Mitt Romney got 121 votes. Ron Paul earned 28 votes, while Fred Thompson, Rudy Giuliana and “uncommitted” each received three.  Alan Keyes received three votes.
On the Democrat ticket, Hillary Clinton was the favorite, getting 554 votes.  Barack Obama was second with 264, while John Edwards got 35 votes.  “Uncommitted” received eight votes.  Ralph Spelbring received two votes, while Dennis Kucinich, Bill Richardson, Joe Biden and Christopher Dodd picked up one vote each.
Wayne Root recieved the only vote cast for the Libertarian party.
A record turnout statewide was seen, and 36 percent of Missouri’s registered voters participated in the election, as more than 1.4 million voters cast ballots in the Presidential Primary, based on unofficial county results. The 2008 Presidential Primary set records for turnout surpassing 2004 totals by approximately 870,000 votes and 2000 totals by nearly 670,000 votes.
“Missouri voters captured the attention of the nation last night as we came out in record-setting numbers,” said Carnahan. “Elections in Missouri always keep us on the edge of our seats until the very end – and yesterday was no exception. As Missouri’s chief elections official, I’m inspired by the overwhelming excitement evident by Missouri’s historic voter turnout.”
The top vote-getters in Missouri were:
Republican:
John McCain-194,119
Mike Huckabee-185,573
Mitt Romney-172.390
Democrat:
Barack Obama-405,470
Hillary Clinton-394,991
John Edwards-16,734