Heavy Humboldt County turnout for presidential caucuses

Humboldt County may not have been the epicenter of political thought and debate Monday night, but it certainly seemed like it. Overflowing crowds at both the Humboldt County Events Center (Republican) and Dakota City VFW Hall and Dakota City Hall (Democratic), the caucus sites for the county, demonstrated the interest the public has in electing a new national leader. Both locations saw strong numbers for a presidential caucus turnout. A total of 605 Republicans filed into the events center and cast ballots for their candidate of choice, following brief speeches by representatives supporting the candidates. Humboldt County Republican’s chose Donald Trump with 204 of the 605 votes (33.7 percent). Ted Cruz finished second behind Trump in Humboldt County by 36 votes with 168. The Republican breakdown of votes was as follows: Donald Trump 204 33.7%Ted Cruz 168 27.8%Marco Rubio 111 18.4%Ben Carson 48 7.9%Mike Huckabee 17 2.8%Rand Paul 16 2.6%Jeb Bush 14 2.3%Chris Christie 9 1.5%Rick Santorum 9 1.5%Carly Fiorina 6 1.0%John Kasich 3 0.5%Jim Gilmore 0 0.0% Among Humboldt County Democrats, 166 or 56 percent favored Hillary Clinton, whereas 133 or 44 percent selected Bernie Sanders. Martin O’Malley did not have a large enough support group to be deemed viable. Candidates needed at least 15 percent of the caucus-goers to be considered a viable candidate. Statewide, Cruz topped Trump by four percentage points and Clinton edged Sanders by less than 0.3 of a percent. Since Monday's caucuses, candidates Mike Huckabee, Martin O'Malley and Rand Paul have announced suspension of their campaigns. To see more photos and read about the caucuses, see this week's Humboldt Independent.