With Super Tuesday fast approaching, Mitt Romney was declared the winner of the presidential caucus straw poll after thousands of Washington Republicans, including Bellevue residents, packed caucuses at churches, schools and union halls Saturday morning.
Among these GOP voters across the state were the 500 people in Bellevue’s 48th Legislative District who crowded Phantom Lake Elementary School in hopes of supporting Romney, who eventually scored 37.6 percent of the vote (with 19,111 votes), Ron Paul, who came in second with 24.8 percent of the vow (12,549 votes) Rick Santorum (23.8 percent with 12,089 votes) and Newt Gingrich (10.3 percent with 5,221 votes). The “other” category included 3.4 percent of voters, with 1,749 votes.
The 48th Legislative district, which includes portions of Bellevue, Issaquah, Kirkland and Redmond, represents 176 neighborhood precincts.
While Washington State has used both a caucus and a primary in the past, the primary was canceled this year due to budgetary concerns. So, instead of filling out a ballot as in a primary, caucus-goers met to elect delegates to the County Convention, where the process will be repeated to yield delegates to the State Convention and then the national convention.
Organized by their neighborhood precincts, attendees stated their presidential preferences, discussed and voted on issues that included immigration, firearms rights, gay marriage and abortion, and then selected delegates for the county convention.
At Phantom Lake, the majority of people who packed the elementary-school cafeteria were first-time caucus-goers, said Diane Tebelius, former chair of the Republican Party of Washington who helped facilitate the event.
It just shows how much voters here and across the nation are passionate about wanting new leadership in the White House, Tebelius said.
“I heard everyone say that they are going to embrace the nominee – whoever it may be,” Tebelius said. “Whoever that person is, I think he’ll be able to take Obama.”
Elliot Neff, who teaches chess to Spiritridge Elementary students in Bellevue, is one of those voters. Neff, who has two young children, said he hasn’t always voted Republican in the past, but that he’s become so concerned about growing national debt that he was inspired to take part in the political process.
Married couple Jeffrey Clark and Marie Boding, who live in Bellevue near the Issaquah border on Lake Sammamish, also were new to the caucus. Like Neff, they were largely concerned about the economy, and said that social issues, such as abortion and religion, were less of their concern.
Wearing her name-tag over a red “I heart US” shirt, Boding, who works as the financial and administrative vice president of Floform Countertops in Kent, said she wants her 24-year-old daughter and 15-year-old stepson to inherit a free market where businesses can proposer without too many government regulations.
“That’s why we’re here,” said Boding, with her hand over her heart, after reciting the pledge of allegiance with the hundreds of other Eastside GOP supporters.
Boding, who maintained a full-time job as a single mom, said that she’s not opposed to government spending to help needy people.
“But, you should teach a person to fish, give them the tools to succeed,” she said.
Because she likes Romney’s broad appeal and Gingrich’s firm stance on issues, Boding was officially undecided, saying she would support whoever is chosen as the nominee. Her husband, however, showed his endorsement of Romney with a sticker on his shirt.
“[Romney] seems to have a pretty squeaky-clean background and no ghosts in his closet,” said Clark, a retired owner of a Kent flooring business. “I think he has a good grasp of the issues.”
Gabrielle Nomura can be reached at 425-453-4270.
