Trump, Clinton take state, county
Butler County followed the national trend this presidential primary season — Republican voters made a strong showing at the polls in the primary on Tuesday.
Democratic voters? Not as much, but not bad either.
It's rare that Pennsylvania has competitive presidential primaries. By the time it's time to vote, one or both of the nominations, GOP and Democrat, have already been secured.
But this year it was different. Pennsylvania mattered in the primary presidential delegate sweepstakes. And that mattered to voters, particularly on the Republican side, according to unofficial results.
Donald Trump swept to Republican wins in Pennsylvania and in the county while Democrat Hillary Clinton did the same in her party's race.
Trump won every county. He netted 57 percent statewide to 22 percent for Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and 19 percent for Ohio Gov. John Kasich.
Clinton had 56 percent statewide to 44 percent for Sanders.
Across the state and in GOP-rich Butler County, the Republican enthusiasm gap over Democrats was apparent.
With all 89 of the county precincts reporting, GOP turnout was 53.4 percent, compared to 41.9 percent for Democrats.
Four years ago, with both parties' presidential nominations a foregone conclusion, the turnout among Republicans and Democrats was 27.7 percent and 16.8 percent, respectively.
The “Trump factor,” as Ed Natali, chairman of the county Republican Committee, calls it, was the primary driver of his party's primary turnout.
“People are tired of the typical politician these days and Donald Trump is considered the outsider,” Natali said. “Whether you love him or hate him, he's brought a lot of attention and excitement to this year's election.”
Like Trump did statewide, the New York businessman overwhelmed all other candidates in winning the county, capturing 19,668 votes, or 56.6 percent. His closest challenger was Cruz of Texas, who got 7,581 votes, or 21.8 percent of all GOP ballots cast.
On the Democratic side Clinton got 8,529 in the county while Sanders got 7,606.
<hardreturn>Georgiann Kerr, chairman of the county Democratic Committee, said she was pleased with her party's turnout in the county Tuesday.<br />But, she noted, it could have been better.<br />“We didn't have many contested races, statewide and for state House,” she said. “That probably hurt our numbers.”<br />She downplayed the Republican turnout advantage and declared wait until November.<br />“We'll get the base motivated,” Kerr said, “and that will get us enthused.”<br />Trump's showing and the Republican turnout edge in the county was not unexpected, Natali said. It also could have been predicted, given recent changes in voter registration numbers here.<br />Of the voters who changed their party registration this year, well over twice as many Democrats switched to Republican as the other way around, election officials confirmed.<br />“Those numbers tell you there's an enthusiasm gap,” Natali said.<br />In the 2008 presidential primary, turnout in Pennsylvania and in Butler County showed the energy was on the Democrats' thanks to then presidential candidate U.S. Sen. Barack Obama.<br />Eight years ago, Democratic primary turnout in the county was 55.2 percent. Republican turnout was just 30.9 percent.<br />In the wake of Tuesday's turnout, a big question is whether the Republican enthusiasm will continue until the fall or whether voters lose interest and stay home in November.<br />“We have the human capital and financial resources to keep it going,” Natali said.<br />But Kerr is not worried.<br />“Democrats,” she said, “know how to work the phones and get out the vote.”<br class="hardreturn" />
