EDITOR’S NOTE: This report has been corrected to reflect the total number and percentage of registered voters involved in Jefferson County’s Democratic presidential caucus meetings Saturday.
PORT ANGELES — Bernie Sanders swept Clallam and Jefferson county Democratic presidential caucuses Saturday, which was in line with early statewide results.
The Washington state caucuses were conducted on the same day as Democratic caucuses in Alaska and Hawaii.
Late Saturday afternoon, Vermont Senator Sanders was winning a majority of delegates across the state. With about 30 percent of precincts reporting, he was winning about 75 percent of the delegates elected.
In Clallam County, 185 precinct delegates were elected for Sanders while 85 were elected for Hillary Clinton.
In Jefferson County, 135 precinct delegates were elected for Sanders while 56 were elected for Clinton.
Statewide there are 118 national level delegates at stake, with 101 to ultimately be awarded proportionally based on the results of the local precincts.
The remaining 17 are technically unpledged party and elected leaders, though a majority of them — including Gov. Jay Inslee and the state’s congressional delegation — support front-runner Clinton, according to the Associated Press.
Saturday’s caucuses elected 27,170 delegates, proportionally allocated to each candidate.
Those delegates will then move on to county conventions and legislative district caucuses, where a smaller group will advance to the congressional district caucuses at the end of May, when 67 delegates will be elected to the Democratic National Convention.
The following month, the remaining 34 delegates will be chosen and bound based on the ratio of support determined at the May 21 congressional district caucuses.
Caucus turnout
More than 150,000 people had preregistered for the Democratic caucuses as of Saturday morning, state party spokesman Jamal Raad said.
In addition, about 35,000 people voted in advance due to conflicts with work schedules, religious observances, illnesses, disabilities or military service.
The party had a record 250,000 people turn out for the caucuses in 2008, when President Barack Obama handily beat Clinton.
High turnout
In Clallam County, 2,391 registered voters participated in caucus meetings at 11 locations county wide.
“Clallam County Democrats were overwhelmed by the enthusiastic response to the precinct caucuses,” Carlyn Syvanen, Clallam County Democratic Party vice chair and caucus coordinator, said Saturday.
“More than twice as many people showed up than were expected,” she said.
In Jefferson County, 3,778 registered voters, or 16 percent, participated in the process Saturday.
The Jefferson County Democrats held 39 precinct caucuses at 12 locations across the county, including the Hoh Tribal Center.
“We were originally planning for fewer than the 2,500 who turned out in Obama’s 2008 run,” said Bruce Cowan, Jefferson County Democrats chair, “but we could see that the campaigns were getting people motivated to come out.
“We were getting tons of calls. It was great to see neighbors talking about issues, even when they disagreed about candidates.”
Both the Clinton and Sanders campaigns have been very active on the North Olympic Peninsula, operating phone banks and knocking on doors over the last several weeks, Cowan said, with supporters for both candidates having held a number of caucus training meetings.
“It was a lot of work, but it was worth it,” said Tom Meyer, of Quilcene, the caucus jurisdiction coordinator who headed the organizing committee.
“People certainly showed up for their candidates. We hope that the people here today will be there for the Democrats running for office all up and down the ticket.”
Sanders support
At one precinct meeting, participants spoke about their support of Sanders.
“Hillary Clinton has a great resume,” Christy Wright, 61, a Deer Park area resident in Precinct 220, said during the caucus at Roosevelt Elementary School in Port Angeles, in which some 400 people participated.
“However I don’t think she supports the people. I don’t know that she would really fight for Citizens United. She has taken so much of that corporate money for herself.”
Wright said she respects Sanders because “he won’t take the money. He walks the talk and he is for the people.”
James V. Loran, 63, of Precinct 220, said that moral character was the deciding factor for him.
“Look at the moral character of Hillary and her husband, and look at the moral character of Bernie and it pretty much answers itself for me” as to who to choose, he said.
Brendan McNamara, 30, of Precinct 220, said: “I represent the constituency of younger voters. We are really concerned about climate change. That is the big elephant in the room and Bernie definitely is the stronger” of the two candidates on that issue.
Joe Paulsen, 83, of Port Angeles, a member of Precinct 101, said about 75 percent of his group chose Sanders.
“I think it is the outlook that Bernie has,” Paulsen said. “It is positive.”
In Jefferson County, Kevin Solis, field organizer on the Peninsula for the Bernie Sanders campaign, said he was excited by Saturday’s outcome.
“We’re very pleased with the results,” he said.
Whirlwind campaigning
Both Clinton and Sanders were in Washington this week to campaign, with Sanders drawing tens of thousands of people into a Seattle sports stadium Friday to hear him speak.
Richards, who is a candidate for Clallam County Commissioner and the Clallam County vice chairman for Bernie Sanders, was among those at Safeco Field.
“It was a moving experience” to be part of the crowd numbering in the tens of thousands, he said.
“That was pretty amazing.”
Uphill battle
Despite Sanders wins in both Alaska and Washington on Saturday, he still has a long way to go to secure the presidential nomination.
Clinton has taken a strong lead in the delegate race, having won about 300 more pledged delegates than Sanders so far in primaries and caucuses leading up to Saturday, according to The Associated Press’ count.
When factoring in superdelegates — party officials who can back any candidate they wish — Clinton holds an even larger lead.
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Reporter Chris McDaniel can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56650, or cmcdaniel@peninsuladailynews.com.
