Big Horn County's GOP delegation voted overwhelmingly for Sen. John McCain in the Super Tuesday Republican caucus this week, but still, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney took the majority of the state so he will get all 25 of Montana's delegates nominating him at the party's national convention.
Of the 28 votes cast in Big Horn County, McCain won 13 while Romney won six, Gov. Mike Huckabee won seven and Ron Paul won two.
Statewide, Romney took 38 percent of the 1,630 votes cast. Ron Paul came in second with almost 25 percent and McCain came in third with 22 percent.
Nationally, McCain took the most states on Super Tuesday, but Romney did very well in the Mountain West, including big wins in Utah and Colorado.
Tuesday was Montana's first Republican caucus. Before, both parties have used a primary system and the Democratic primary this year will remain in June and stay a primary, opposed to a caucus. In a primary, all party registered voters can vote. In a caucus, only party members, or in Montana's case, only selected party members are allowed to participate. The process differs state to state. Some states, like Iowa, use the caucus system, while others, like New Hampshire, use the primary system. Also, who can participate in either differs from state to state. In Montana, the caucus was "closed" to non-party members while in other state's, it can be open, meaning anyone can participate or it can be "semi-open" meaning Independents can vote in a party election.
Montana's caucus was also a winner-takes-all contest, which means which ever candidate wins the majority, gets all 25 of the state's delegates voting for him at the national convention. In some states, the votes are allocated proportionally.
Chris Carter, the communications director for the Montana Republican Party, told NewWest.Net that the Tuesday's turnout in Montana was “absolutely incredible, and it shows the excitement the Republican party up here in Montana is generating."
But, the change did cause some confusion this week with party members who were expecting to be able to participate, just as they had in the past. The Great Falls Tribune's Karl Puckett reported Tuesday that across Central Montana, clerks and recorders were fielding calls to clear up what exactly was happening Tuesday.
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