Published: May 27, 2008 01:02 pm      

Election turnout is larger than expected

Monticello — The democratic race for president brought out larger numbers of local

voters than expected for last Tuesday's primary election. Wayne County Clerk

Melissa Turpin said that about 22 percent of the county's registered voters

went to the polls last week.

That is at least 10 percent higher than local election officials

originally anticipated. Turpin reported that things went smoothly throughout

the day, with only a couple of minor machine problems when the polls opened.

Those issues were resolved quickly, according to Turpin.

This marks the first time in a long time that Kentucky voters have made

a difference in a presidential race. Normally, party nominations have

already been decided by the time Kentucky holds its primary election.

Wayne Countians voted overwhelmingly for former first lady Hillary

Clinton. Clinton received about 87 percent of the democratic vote in Wayne

County, compared to only 11 percent for Barack Obama.

She garnered 1,663 votes in the county, while Obama received 214 votes.

John Edwards, who also appeared on the ballot but has withdrawn from the

race, received 21 votes in Wayne County. Twenty-three local democratic

voters were uncommitted.

John McCain, who has already earned his party's nomination, led the

local republican slate of presidential candidates. He received 658 votes in

Wayne County. Other candidates appeared on the ballot, but have officially

dropped out of the race, including former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee

who received 101 votes in Wayne County.

The only other decision for local voters involved the U.S. Senate seat

currently held by Mitch McConnell. McConnell, a Republican, defeated

challenger Daniel Essek in his bid for re-election. McConnell received 739

votes in Wayne County, compared to 129 for Essek.

On the democratic side of the ballot, Bruce Lunsford emerged from a

eight-candidate slate to earn the party nomination for U.S. Senator. In

Wayne County, Lunsford received 819 votes. His closest competition was from

Greg Fischer, who received 397 votes in the county.

Lunsford will face McConnell in the senate race this fall. Also in the

fall, Wayne County voters will have several local races to make decisions

in. Turpin noted that all six Monticello City Council seats will be on the

ballot in November. There will be three Wayne County School Board seats and

two Monticello School Board seats on the ballot as well.

For a precinct-by-precinct look at last Tuesday's primary in Wayne

County, see the recapitulation sheet on page 14-A.