Clinton, Huckabee win in Cherokee County

Staff Reports

CENTRE — Nearly 5,400 Cherokee County residents took advantage of their first-ever chance to have a say in the presidential election process. Voting among Democrats and Republicans was split nearly evenly, with 2,699 choosing from among the Democratic candidates and 2,684 voting for GOP candidates.

In the past, Alabama has held its presidential primary in June, long after the two parties have typically chosen their candidates.

On the Democratic side, Sen. Hillary Clinton led all voter-getters with 2,040 votes. Sen. Barack Obama was second in the county with 485. Others received votes, including John Edwards, Sen. Christopher Dodd and Sen. Joe Biden, but all dropped out of the race with too little time to remove their names from the Feb. 5 ballot.

Among Republicans, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee was the big winner in Cherokee County, with 1,337 votes. He came in well ahead of Sen. John McCain (805 votes) and former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney (423 votes).

Statewide, Huckabee and Obama were the big winners.

With 99 percent of Alabama's precincts reporting, Huckabee had 41 percent, McCain 37 percent, Romney 18 percent and Texas Rep. Ron Paul 3 percent. No candidate crossed the 50 percent threshold needed to win all of Alabama's GOP delegates, which means they will be divided on a formula.

“It’s hard for this old Razorback to say, ‘Roll Tide Roll,’ but I’m saying it tonight,” Huckabee said at a rally after his win in Alabama was declared official.

Huckabee, a Southern Baptist will strong appeal across the Southeast, also won his home state and Georgia.

On the Democratic side, Obama had 56 percent, Clinton 42 percent, and former Sen. John Edwards got 1 percent even though he had dropped out. Under the Democratic Party's rules, Obama and Clinton will split the Democratic delegates proportionately.

Exit polling underlined Obama's strong appeal to young people and blacks in Alabama.

"Obama is reaching some folks nobody else is reaching. He's expanding democracy. That may very well be the most important thing about his candidacy," said state Sen. Hank Sanders, D-Selma.

Obama ran strongest in counties in south and central Alabama with large black populations, while Clinton was tops in largely white counties in north Alabama.

"It does show the obstacles a black candidate faces in Alabama. It shows the obstacles Artur Davis could face if he decides to run for governor," said William Stewart, a veteran political scientist at the University of Alabama.

The state's chief election official, Secretary of State Beth Chapman, said had forecast a higher-than-normal turnout of 31 percent to 33 percent, but the unofficial returns showed it would be higher. The normal turnout is 20 percent to 25 percent.

Chapman said Alabama was in the national spotlight on Super Tuesday and voters responded.

"I felt an excitement we don't normally feel," she said.

 The Associated Press contributed to this report.