In caucuses, Obama wins 73 delegates to Clinton’s 42

Barack Obama picked up nearly two-thirds of the delegates from Spokane County legislative districts Saturday as Democrats held the second round of their presidential nominating process.

Obama supporters received a total of 73 delegates at three meetings, the caucuses for the 3rd, 4th and 6th legislative districts.

The Illinois senator, who is leading in the battle for the Democratic nomination, also won the precinct caucuses in each of those districts in February.

Sen. Hillary Clinton, of New York, received 42 delegates to the next round of meetings, the 5th Congressional District caucus in mid-May and the Democratic state convention.

The ratios aren’t significantly different from those reported from the Feb. 9 precinct caucuses, Spokane County Democratic Chairwoman Kristine Reeves said.

The real surprise, she said, was the turnout.

“There was such a huge turnout, a lot of people wanting to be involved,” she said.

That made caucus meetings longer than normal, she added.

All the meetings started at 9:30 a.m., and one district was still selecting alternates at 5 p.m.

Many people were interested in being named delegates to the successive meeting, Reeves said. Everyone running for a delegate position to the congressional district caucus and state convention was allowed to make a one-minute speech to try to convince other delegates he or she should be chosen.

At one of the caucus meetings, some 67 delegates made pitches, Reeves said.

Although caucus rules allow delegates to switch candidates as they move from the precinct meetings to the legislative district meetings, Reeves said she wasn’t aware of that happening.

“They pretty much stayed where they were with their candidates,” she said.

Obama won the precinct caucuses by about 60 percent statewide, and the state primary by a smaller margin on Feb. 19. The Democrats are ignoring the primary results and using the caucus system to send delegates to the national convention, where the party’s nominee will be officially chosen.

Legislative districts completely contained within county boundaries held their meetings Saturday. Two other districts, the 7th and 9th, which include a portion of Spokane County but spread into several others, will hold their caucus meetings during the county convention later this month.

Delegates to the congressional district caucuses will select delegates to the national convention, which will be held in Denver at the end of August.