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| D.C. Republicans wrap around the block to cast primary vote | D.C. Republicans wrap around the block to cast primary vote |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Thousands of District Republicans — usually such a small cohort that they joke about holding meetings in phone booths — waited in long lines Saturday to vote in what many saw as the city’s most influential GOP presidential primary in years. | |
| “It’s exciting to see this many Republicans in D.C.” said Erika Walter, 27, as she waited her turn in a line that snaked out of the polling place in the Loews Madison Hotel and down 15th Street NW for a block before wrapping around to L Street NW. | |
| As of 3:30 p.m., there were more than a thousand people in line, many of whom stood under drizzling skies and said they had been waiting for more than two hours. | |
| “I know how important one vote is,” added Walter, press secretary to House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.). “I’ll stand in line as long as it takes.” | “I know how important one vote is,” added Walter, press secretary to House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.). “I’ll stand in line as long as it takes.” |
| Patrick Mara, executive director of the D.C. Republican Committee, estimated that as many as 4,000 people had voted by 3:45 p.m. He said about 6,000 people had voted in the 2012 primary, when voting was spread throughout the city’s different precincts instead of held at one spot. | |
| “It’s a completely different animal when you have everyone coming to one central location downtown,” Mara said. “...We did the best we could under the circumstances.” | |
| The polling place opened at 10 a.m. and was to close at 4 p.m. but Mara said anyone in line by 4 p.m. would be able to cast a ballot. | |
| The party rented a smaller hotel room until 9 p.m. to allow Jews to vote after sundown on the Sabbath. | |
| [GOP primary polls stay open late to allow Sabbath-observant Jews to vote] | [GOP primary polls stay open late to allow Sabbath-observant Jews to vote] |
| Two weeks ago, billionaire businessman and Republican front-runner Donald Trump won a straw poll conducted by the party, followed by Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.), Sen. Ted Cruz (Tex.), Ohio Gov. John Kasich and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, who has since dropped out of the race. The ballot in D.C. still carried Carson’s name, as well as two other candidates who have withdrawn, former Florida governor Jeb Bush and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.). | |
| With 19 delegates at stake — as many as Hawaii and more than Vermont and Delaware — D.C. Republicans say they pull more weight than many people think. Moreover, party officials said, holding their primary earlier than usual allowed them to have a say while the nomination is still up for grabs and the contest remains so tensely competitive that cancellation of a Trump rally Friday night in Chicago ended in skirmishes between Trump supporters and protesters. | |
| . | |
| If any candidate wins more than 50 percent of the vote, he would take all 19 delegates, Mara said. If no candidate claimed a majority, the delegates would be proportioned to each candidate based on their vote count. | |
| “We’re early enough where there are still four candidates, and every single one of them might be nominated,” Mara said. | “We’re early enough where there are still four candidates, and every single one of them might be nominated,” Mara said. |
| Several voters noted that the ratio between the District’s 19 delegates and the relatively small numbers of registered Republicans made their vote count more than in almost any other primary or caucus. That low ratio, combined with an early primary date, made the D.C. Republican convention more influential than at any point since Abraham Lincoln was president, Mara said. | |
| Some voters said that, living in a city where Republicans make up just 6 percent of registered voters, they felt as if they had more power at the polls Saturday than they would in the November general election. | Some voters said that, living in a city where Republicans make up just 6 percent of registered voters, they felt as if they had more power at the polls Saturday than they would in the November general election. |
| “This is important,” said Hudson Hollister, 34, executive director of an advocacy group who described himself as a Rubio supporter. “Republicans are outnumbered and outgunned in the District, but that also means that our voice can really matter. Today our vote carries special weight.” | “This is important,” said Hudson Hollister, 34, executive director of an advocacy group who described himself as a Rubio supporter. “Republicans are outnumbered and outgunned in the District, but that also means that our voice can really matter. Today our vote carries special weight.” |
| The day had its share of Republican star power. | The day had its share of Republican star power. |
| Ben Ginsberg, the Republican attorney who’d helped draw up the working rules of the Republican National Convention, stood in the long line with a plan to vote for “his friends,” activists who were running as uncommitted delegates. | |
| “This turnout is impressive,” said Ginsberg, “This is not the tasseled lobbyist class. These are real people coming out to vote. I don’t recognize most of them.” | |
| C. Boyden Gray, who served as White House counsel under President George H.W. Bush and was running as a delegate supporting Cruz, mingled with voters. Nearby, Joshua Bolten, who served as White House chief of staff to President George W. Bush, manned the #NeverTrump table. | C. Boyden Gray, who served as White House counsel under President George H.W. Bush and was running as a delegate supporting Cruz, mingled with voters. Nearby, Joshua Bolten, who served as White House chief of staff to President George W. Bush, manned the #NeverTrump table. |
| “Who would’ve thunkin Washington, D.C., you’d see Republicans get excited about something,” Gray said, as he glanced around the hotel ballroom filled with a thrum of hundreds of people chatting in line. “Normally, we’re such a minority that we don’t matter, but this race is obviously attracting enormous attention.” | “Who would’ve thunkin Washington, D.C., you’d see Republicans get excited about something,” Gray said, as he glanced around the hotel ballroom filled with a thrum of hundreds of people chatting in line. “Normally, we’re such a minority that we don’t matter, but this race is obviously attracting enormous attention.” |
| Bolten declined to say whom he supports but said he was urging people to vote for delegates “who will oppose Donald Trump at all stages of the convention, assuming it’s contested.” | Bolten declined to say whom he supports but said he was urging people to vote for delegates “who will oppose Donald Trump at all stages of the convention, assuming it’s contested.” |
| Bolten said he had received “very positive reactions” from many voters and “civil, for the most part” feedback from Trump supporters. He said he believed anti-Trump sentiment underlay the turnout. | Bolten said he had received “very positive reactions” from many voters and “civil, for the most part” feedback from Trump supporters. He said he believed anti-Trump sentiment underlay the turnout. |
| “A substantial part of the party is steadfastly opposed to the front-runner,” Bolten said. | “A substantial part of the party is steadfastly opposed to the front-runner,” Bolten said. |
| Stephen Jackson, the 30-year old director of policy at the moderate Republican Ripon Society, ran as an unaffiliated delegate, and worked the line pledging to “stop Trump” no matter how the delegate race shook out. | |
| “There are a lot of Trump people here, but not a majority,” Jackson said. “People know that if he’ll be stopped, that’s going to happen at the convention.” | |
| Tim Schnabel, a 35-year old State Department employee, had hoped to support Jeb Bush or Rand Paul. Exiting the polls, wearing a #NeverTrump sticker, he said that he’d reluctantly supported Ted Cruz. | |
| “My sense is that at this point in the race, Cruz is the only one nationally who has a chance to deny Trump those 1237 delegates,” he said. | |
| None of the voters interviewed brought up the Friday night violence in Chicago as a factor in their choice. Most said they had already made up their mind before the skirmishes, while some said the violence confirmed their previous feelings about Trump. | None of the voters interviewed brought up the Friday night violence in Chicago as a factor in their choice. Most said they had already made up their mind before the skirmishes, while some said the violence confirmed their previous feelings about Trump. |
| “For me, it reconfirmed that we need to nominate a candidate who doesn’t foment violence,” said Hollister, the Rubio supporter. | “For me, it reconfirmed that we need to nominate a candidate who doesn’t foment violence,” said Hollister, the Rubio supporter. |
| “It didn’t surprise me,” said Walter, who said she planned to vote for Rubio because of his “values and integrity.” “Trump is a volatile character, so you can expect his supporters to be the same.” | “It didn’t surprise me,” said Walter, who said she planned to vote for Rubio because of his “values and integrity.” “Trump is a volatile character, so you can expect his supporters to be the same.” |
| Gray said he wanted to know more about what sparked the violence but said he worried about the message it sent. | Gray said he wanted to know more about what sparked the violence but said he worried about the message it sent. |
| “The question that’s raised is that it appears to be a pattern of Trump supporters maybe egging people on to generate excitement,” Gray said. “I hope that’s not true. . . . That kind of disruption is not good — not good for the political process and not good for how people look at us in the rest of the world. It’s just not good.” | “The question that’s raised is that it appears to be a pattern of Trump supporters maybe egging people on to generate excitement,” Gray said. “I hope that’s not true. . . . That kind of disruption is not good — not good for the political process and not good for how people look at us in the rest of the world. It’s just not good.” |
| Staff writer David Weigel contributed to this report |