Parties Hold Caucuses Today

Tue., March 7, 2000

By Jim Camden jimc@spokesman.com (509) 879-7461

Democrats and Republicans from all over Washington get a chance this evening to talk politics with their neighbors and influence the presidential election.

But to do so, they’ll have to leave home and gather in nearby schools, community centers, libraries or living rooms.

The two parties are holding their precinct caucuses, which start the selection of presidential delegates. The caucuses also allow people to debate local, state or national issues that can become part of the party platforms.

Each party has its own rules for the caucuses.

Democrats will begin their discussion of issues at 7:30 p.m. - in large groups if more than one precinct is gathering at a location. At 8 p.m., they must either finish or interrupt those discussions to ask participants to break into individual precinct groups to measure support for presidential candidates. Delegates to the county conventions are awarded based on each candidate’s strength.

The state Democrats expect to have estimates on the support for Vice President Al Gore and former New Jersey Sen. Bill Bradley late Tuesday night.

Republicans will start at 7:30 p.m. with introductions, and a review of the rules and procedures for running the meetings. At 8 p.m., participants will show their support for presidential candidates and select county convention delegates, then discuss platform issues and resolutions.

State Republicans may not have final numbers on the number of delegates for Texas Gov. George Bush, Arizona Sen. John McCain and former ambassador Alan Keyes until later in the week.

One of the trickiest things about caucuses is the location. They are seldom held at the same place where voters cast ballots. A list of Spokane County locations was published on page B2 of Sunday’s Spokesman-Review, and can be found on the newspaper’s Web site at www.spokane.net/election.

This sidebar appeared with the story: IF YOU GO Party caucuses

Here’s a list of numbers to call for information about your precinct caucus location:

Ferry County

Republicans: Sharon Shumate, 775-2256

Democrats: Dean Fischer, 775-3957

Lincoln County

Republicans: Carol Paul, 236-2348

Democrats: all at Davenport Elementary School

Pend Oreille County

Republicans: all at Hospitality House in Newport

Democrats: Joel Jacobsen, 447-3708

Spokane County

Republicans: 838-6162

Democrats: 324-8525.

Stevens County

Republicans: Sarah Baumann, 935-6815

Democrats: Carolyn McKern, 738-6041

Whitman County

Republicans: John Brabb, 397-3900

Democrats: Herbert Hill, 332-1945

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