By Dan King
An outspoken businessman and a democratic socialist walk into Washington County – and they leave victorious.
During Tuesday’s presidential primary race, businessman Donald Trump and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders swept Washington County. Trump was the top Republican vote-getter in all six towns in our coverage area and Sanders was the top Democratic vote-getter in all six of those towns.
Between Dresden, Granville, Hampton, Hartford, Hebron and Whitehall, Sanders beat former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton 456-234. That means, that in those six towns, Sanders pulled in 66 percent of the Democratic voters to Clinton’s 34 percent.
Sanders’ support was also reflected countywide, with the Vermont senator defeating Clinton 2,087-1,167. That is about 64 percent of the Democratic vote going Sanders’ way, countywide.
One Sanders supporter, Zack Plude, of Whitehall said, “It’s simple, he’s not bought – I trust him. I’m also a progressive socially, and really believe in investing in our future and not fear based rhetoric. He is the only rational candidate with a chance to win.”
That being said, Clinton did win the statewide race on the Democratic side. According to Real Clear Politics, Clinton won 139 of the state’s delegates and Sanders took 106. That puts Clinton’s total delegate count (including super delegates) at 1,428, to Sanders’ 1,151.
On the Republican side, Trump received 712 votes from our six towns, Ohio Gov. John Kasich was second with 403 votes, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz was third with 219 votes and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson only pulled in 15 votes. That means Trump received 53 percent of the vote in those six towns, Kasich 30 percent, Cruz 16 percent and Carson the remaining 1 percent.
Carson has dropped out of the race for the White House and endorsed Trump, but was still on the New York ballot.
Countywide, Trump pulled in 2,337 votes, Kasich was second with 1,741, Cruz was third with 974 and Carson was last with 78. That means Trump’s percentage countywide is a little lower than it was in our coverage area. He received 46 percent countywide, Kasich pulled in 34 percent, Cruz cam in at 19 percent and Carson only got 1 percent.
One Trump supporter, Drew Martindale, of Whitehall, said, “I support Donald Trump because I’m sick of seeing the U.S. and the American people be taken advantage of by other governments and even our government through bad trade deals and corrupt politicians.”
The order of candidates on the Republican side in the county reflects the statewide trend of Trump pulling away to get the support of his home state, Kasich finishing second and Cruz third.
According to Real Clear Politics, Trump received 89 of the state’s 95 delegates, with 3 other delegates going to Kasich. That puts Trump at 847 total delegates, Cruz is second with 559, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio has 171 and Kasich now has 147.