Adams, Grant Democrats vote for Clinton

Results differ from caucuses

COLUMBIA BASIN - Adams and Grant County Democrat voters appear to have selected Sen. Hillary Clinton for a presidential candidate, according to preliminary election results Tuesday night.

Adams County Democratic voters nominated Sen. Hillary Clinton with 455 votes. Sen. Barack Obama came in second with 345 votes.

Grant County Democrat voters voted for Clinton with 2,353 votes and Obama received 1,891.

The Democrats are not using the primary results in their nomination for a presidential candidate.

At the Adams County Democratic Party Caucus participants nominated Obama as the presidential candidate.

Obama was also the nominated presidential candidate at the Grant County Democrat Party caucus Feb. 9.

According to preliminary primary results, Obama is leading the state with 50 percent of the vote. Clinton is trailing with 47 percent.

Adams County Democratic Party Vice-Chair Jim Carlton said both candidates are front-runners for the Democratic party. He said he wasn't sure how the mail-in ballot results would turn out due to the popularity of each candidate. He said he wasn't surprised with the results because the election could go either way due to strong support for each candidate.

Carlton said he suspects there will be discussion at the state level concerning whether or not the caucus meetings will be used in the future or modified. He said he enjoyed the caucus meetings because it allowed for an open debate and discussion about candidates. Carlton said he also understands the benefit of the mail-in ballot because it can include more people who can't attend the caucus meetings.

Grant County Democrats Chair Ellen Webb said she wasn't surprised with the election results either. She said Democratic voters in Eastern Washington tend to vote for who is considered the more conservative Democratic candidate.

Webb said although Obama won the presidential nomination at the caucus, the results were close between each front-runner. She said she expected Obama would gather the most votes at the state level because he has a well-organized campaign and strong grassroots support. She said his campaign is attracting support and momentum as the election moves on.