February 09, 2008 06:19 pm
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By Greg Grisolano
ggrisolano@joplinglobe.com
PARSONS, Kan. — Republicans in Southeast Kansas joined their counterparts around the state in throwing support Saturday to Mike Huckabee, who cruised to a win in the Sunflower state’s Republican caucus.
Of the 500 Republicans from Crawford, Cherokee and Labette counties who attended the 13th Kansas Senate District caucus, Huckabee captured 327 votes, nearly four times as many as runner-up John McCain, who received 82 votes.
“Most of the people I talked to said that was the guy they were supporting,” said Grant Allison, chairman of the Labette County Republican Party, which served as host for the nearest local caucus.
According to The Associated Press, final results statewide showed Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor, with 60 percent of the vote, compared to 24 percent for McCain, the Arizona senator.
Huckabee captured all 36 Kansas delegates to the Republican National Convention. Another three delegates are party leaders who attend the convention no matter whom they support; two have endorsed McCain.
Allison said local Republicans support Huckabee because of his conservative social views.
“He’s not afraid to talk about his Christian faith. I think that’s why he garners such support in this area.”
“It sends a pretty significant signal to John McCain that he’s got a lot of work to do to get significant factions of the Republican Party solidly behind him,” said Kris Kobach, the state Republican Party chairman, the only Kansas delegate who is uncommitted.
McCain supporters hoped he could prevent a rift on the right that would hurt a fall campaign, while Huckabee campaigned in the Sunflower State on the idea that McCain’s nomination can be prevented.
Some Kansas Republicans thought their caucuses would provide an indication of whether conservatives accept McCain as the GOP candidate or whether they still hoped to nominate someone else despite the long odds.
“Huckabee doesn’t have to win enough delegates to get the nomination outright,” said Matthew Pennell, coordinator for Huckabee’s volunteers in Kansas. “All he has to do is keep McCain from getting as many delegates as he needs to get the nomination outright. Then we’ll go to a brokered convention.”
While Democratic caucuses across the state experienced overcrowding during the “Super Tuesday” primaries last week, Allison reported no problems at Saturday’s event, which was held in the auditorium of the Parsons Municipal Building.
“We opened it an hour early to get people checked in,” he said. “When we saw what happened with the Democratic one, we thought that was a confirmation of our strategy to get people in sooner.”
Allison said he believes about 700 people, including children and members of the media, attended Saturday’s event.
One participant, Pam Henderson, of Pittsburg, said she was surprised by how smoothly things went.
“I’d heard about the other caucuses being crowded,” said Henderson, vice-chairwoman of the Crawford County Republican Committee. “Everything was done by 11:30, and they told us the results at 12 o’clock.”
Henderson said she wasn’t surprised by the way the votes turned out, although she admits voting for the “underdog” McCain.
“I would have thought it to be a little bit closer,” she said. “I heard a lot of people say Romney was their candidate, and now they were trying to figure out who they were gonna vote for.”
How they voted
The results of Republican voting in Parsons are:
Mike Huckabee 327
John McCain 82
Ron Paul 56
Mitt Romney 12
Alan Keyes 8
Uncommitted 1
Provisional ballots 14
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