EAST MACHIAS, Maine — Texas Congressman Ron Paul was the top choice by a two-to-one margin in four presidential preference polls conducted by Republicans in Maine on Saturday as the state winds up its controversial GOP caucuses.
In Washington County’s supercaucus, Paul attracted 163 votes to Mitt Romney’s 80, and in the town of Hancock, in the county of the same name, Paul received 41 votes to Romney’s 16. Paul also picked up four more votes to Romney’s two in Clinton, which also caucused Saturday morning, and 19 votes to Romney’s seven in Eastbrook.
The numbers weren’t enough to overcome Paul’s 239-vote deficit statewide, but the poll is nonbinding, meaning the state’s 24 GOP delegates won’t necessarily be apportioned based on the results. However, the decisive wins might cool the momentum Romney claimed after he was declared the winner in Maine a week ago.
Paul’s Saturday wins put him 117 votes behind Romney statewide, according to an unofficial tabulation by the Bangor Daily News.
Rick Santorum attracted 57 votes in Washington County, 17 votes in Hancock and 8 votes in Eastbrook. Gingrich finished last in all three caucuses with 4 votes in Washington County, 9 in Hancock and none in Eastbrook. Neither candidate received any votes in Clinton.
The town of Castine will caucus March 3.
The caucus in East Machias included all Washington County Communities.
Saturday morning’s caucuses in Hancock represented the communities of Fletcher’s Landing, Gouldsboro, Hancock, Lamoine, Sorrento, Sullivan, Waltham and Winter Harbor and Saturday afternoon’s caucuses in Eastbrook included Amherst, Aurora, Eastbrook, Franklin, Mariaville and Osborn.
The Washington County caucuses were originally scheduled for the prior Saturday, but were postponed because of an expected storm.
Despite the lack of a caucus in Washington County and other local caucuses that had yet to be held, Maine Republican Party Chairman Charlie Webster last Saturday announced that Romney had won the state’s nonbinding presidential preference poll.
Paul refused to concede the state until all communities had voted, including Washington County.
Since then, Maine has received national attention for its Republican caucuses, in part due to a lull in national political events that made Maine the only state to watch and in part due to issues that some say have disenfranchised caucus-goers.
Early last week, Webster said that votes from Washington County and parts of Hancock County that had not yet caucused would not be counted because the caucuses would be held after the party’s Feb. 11 deadline.
The pressure mounted when a town-by-town review by the BDN of the caucus results showed that Waterville and towns in Waldo County that had already caucused were not included in the GOP’s vote tally. Waldo County Republicans on Tuesday recommended a censure of Webster for his handling of the caucuses.
On Thursday, the party changed course and said the Washington County results would be included in the state total. Party leadership also asked town committee chairs to resubmit their results.
On Friday, the state GOP released revised results, which it said showed Romney had a slightly larger lead over Paul.
In East Machias Saturday afternoon, it was standing room only in the Washington Academy gymnasium.
Washington County GOP Committee Chairman Chris Gardner opened the caucus with this observation: “As you can see by the numbers,” he said, “this is a county that needs to be counted.”
Maine State Senate President Kevin Raye, a Washington County resident who has endorsed Romney, called the turnout “magnificent,” but said he wasn’t surprised.
“I thought it would turn out like this,” he said, before taking the stage to make his pitch for support as he mounts his campaign for Maine’s 2nd Congressional District seat now held by Democrat Mike Michaud.
Saturday’s caucuses in Hancock opened at 10 a.m. with prayer and the pledge of allegiance and featured speakers in support of Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul and Mitt Romney. When the microphone was offered to a supporter of Rick Santorum, no one came forward.
Hancock County Republican Committee Chairman Eric White assured caucus-goers that their presidential preference poll votes would be tallied when the GOP State Committee resolves the controversial process of counting votes from throughout the state. “My job is to make sure every vote gets counted,” White said. “We’re going to be included.”
Raye said Friday that Washington County’s results would be included in the final tally for the poll, but that the Republican State Committee will have to vote at its March 10 meeting whether to include results from other towns that voluntarily chose to hold their caucuses after Feb. 11.
BDN editor William P. Davis contributed to this report.
CORRECTION:
Because of an editor’s error, an earlier version of this article misstated the number of votes for Rick Santorum in the Hancock poll. Santorum received 17 votes, not 16.
