Poll workers stayed busy at the polling place at the Lakeport Firehouse on Main Street Tuesday. They reported that more than 100 people had voted by early afternoon. Photo by Harold LaBonte.

LAKE COUNTY – On Super Tuesday, Republican Sen. John McCain and Democratic Sen. Hillary Clinton were the winners for their respective parties in California's presidential primary, with the two senators also proving to be the top vote getters among Lake County voters.

When Lake County Registrar of Voters Diane Fridley's office had tallied all of the results in the county's 52 precincts Tuesday night, they reported the ballots cast countywide totaled 15,497, a 47.3 -percent turnout.

Of those 15,497 ballots, 8,142 were cast at precincts while 7,355 were absentee, Fridley's office reported.

In party voting, among the 14,116 registered Democrats, 8,862 voted, a 62.8 percent turnout, according to the Elections Office.

Clinton received 4,789 votes in Lake County, or 54.8 percent of the Democratic Party vote, compared to the 3,083 votes – or 35.3 percent – received by her rival for the party nomination, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama.

Other Democratic vote getters included John Edwards, 624; Dennis Kucinich, 97; Bill Richardson, 42; write-in candidates, 40; Joe Biden, 36; Mike Gravel, 13; and Chris Dodd, 10.

Among Republicans, Elections Office figures showed that McCain received 2,407 votes from local residents, or 46.5 percent of the Republican vote. His nearest competition locally was Mitt Romney, with 1,227 votes, or 23.7 percent.

Bringing up the rest of the Republican field were Mike Huckabee, 791 votes; Ron Paul, 298; Rudy Giuliani, 224; Fred Thompson, 151; write-in candidates, 36; Alan Keyes, 14; Duncan Hunter, 13; Tom Tancredo, six; John H. Cox, five; and Sam Brownback, three.

American Independent Party candidates were led by 88 votes for write-in candidates; Don J. Grundmann, 76; Diane Beall Templin, 71; and Mad Max Riekse, 66. The party had an overall 42.7 percent turnout among its 1,050 registered voters.

Among Green Party candidates, Ralph Nader received the most votes, with 66, followed by Cynthia McKinney, 19; write-in candidates, 14; Elaine Brown, five; Jesse Johnson and Jared Ball, each with two; and Kat Swift and Kent Mesplay with one vote each. The Green Party showed a 30.3 percent voter turnout among its 399 registered local members.

Christine Smith led Libertarian Party candidates with eight votes, followed by Barry Hess, seven; write-in candidates, five; Wayne A. Root, four; Alden Link, three; Dave Hollist, Daniel Imperato, George Phillies, Robert Milnes, Michael P. Jingozian and Steve Kubby, each with two; Bob Jackson, one; and John Finan, zero votes. Overall Libertarian turnout was 28.2 percent of 209 registered voters.

The Peace and Freedom Party registered 17 votes for its presidential candidates, including nine for Ralph Nader and six for Cynthia McKinney – both of whom also received votes from Green Party voters. There also was one vote each for Stanley Hetz and Gloria E. La Riva. John Crockford, Stewart A. Alexander and Brian Moore received zero votes, and there were no write-in candidates among Peace and Freedom voters. Peace and Freedom's 129 registered voters showed a 14.7-percent turnout.

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An electronic voting machine at the Lakeport Firehouse's polling place. Photo by Harold LaBonte.

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Written by: Elizabeth Larson

Published: 05 February 2008