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February 6, 2008
Split Decisions: Clinton, McCain roll to primary victories in N.Y.
Jill Terreri and Joseph Spector
Staff writers
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton won her home-state primary Tuesday night but was expected to lose some delegates to her Democratic
opponent, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, while Sen. John McCain won the state's Republican primary.
In a contest marked by high turnout, Clinton won about 57 percent of the popular vote compared with 40 percent for Obama with 95 percent
of the vote reported, according to The Associated Press. Delegate counts were not yet available.
McCain won the 101 Republican delegates at stake in the winner-take-all contest, according to the AP. The Arizona senator won 51 percent
of the vote compared with 28 percent for former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, 11 percent for former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee
and 6 percent for Rep. Ron Paul of Texas.
Around Rochester, both the Obama and Clinton camps were claiming victory.
"I'm really pleased that New York has given her a resounding win," said Joseph Morelle, Monroe County Democratic Committee chairman.
While Morelle and other Clinton supporters gathered at an Alexander Street bar, a crowd of Obama supporters filled Nathaniel's Pub in Corn
Hill.
"I think Barack is doing well," said Ken Preston, who leads the grassroots group Rochester Dems for Obama. "So far, we're winning states
we knew we were going to win."
For most of the campaign, Clinton held a sizable lead in New York, where she was first elected to the Senate in 2000 and then again in
2006.
Yet with Obama's surge nationally, voters in New York also took notice, and polls this week showed a tightening race with increasing gains
for him among African-American voters and in upstate cities.
As part of the Super Tuesday primary, New York has 232 Democratic delegates at stake and has 281 delegates total, second only to
California. A Democratic candidate needed 15 percent of the vote in a congressional district to earn delegates.
Obama and Clinton drew young supporters in Rochester, but they weren't the only ones.
Surrounded by signs saying "Mac is Back," at Don's Original in Penfield, friends Brian Bub, 24, and Anthony Curazzato, 27, celebrated a
successful night for their candidate, John McCain.
Bub, of Greece, an Army soldier for the past eight years, has seen action in Kuwait and Iraq and said he backed McCain because of his
military stance.
"I voted for him in 2004 and from the start you know he cares about veterans," he said. "He's a man full of great ideas and I'm happy he's
winning so many states (Tuesday)."
Curazzato, of Irondequoit, didn't decide on a candidate until a few days ago.
"But in the end, McCain is someone who I feel like I can trust and that was important to me," he said.
Craig Chormann, who hosted a Huckabee primary party at his Fairport home, also was elated by Tuesday's results. The former Arkansas
governor won several Southern states. "He proved that this is more than just a two-man race," said Chormann, 55. "And we feel like we
stole West Virginia from Mitt Romney because we weren't expecting to win that one."
Turnout was high across the state and in Monroe County.
County Democratic Elections Commissioner Thomas F. Ferrarese said Democrats in Monroe County likely set a record for voter turnout in a
presidential primary.
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Forty percent of registered Democrats voted by 8 p.m., compared with 17 percent in 2004. Twenty-six percent of Republicans voted by 8
p.m. Tuesday.
"The story of the night is the turnout," Ferrarese said.
Voter Zachary Shirkey, 31, of Rochester, cast a ballot for Obama. "I think he's got an upbeat message," said Shirkey, an assistant professor
of international relations at St. John Fisher College. "I don't think he's divisive."
Kristie Massella, a 28-year-old city resident, is supporting Obama.
"He just seems sincere," Massella said. "The main thing we need is change and that's what he talks about."
Celebrating at the Clinton party, Stephen Bui, 28, of Greece, speculated that Clinton will become more aggressive than she has been.
"Obama's going to step up his game, too," Bui said.
Voter Diane Jesewski, 49, of Steuben County, is a Clinton supporter.
Jesewski has two sons in their 20s who cannot afford health insurance.
"I totally agree with her health care plan," she said. "I also like her view on applying the actual rules of (the North American Free Trade
Agreement)."
One political expert said it's possible that Romney's message that McCain isn't conservative enough backfired, and voters who agreed with
him pulled the lever instead for Huckabee.
Paul Ferber, Ph.D., a professor of political science at Rochester Institute of Technology, also offered his view of the Democratic field, noting
that Clinton's win in Massachusetts, where members of the Kennedy family endorsed Obama, is noteworthy.
"She's held the whole Northeast fairly well," Ferber said.
Obama won Connecticut and Delaware.
Valeria Sinclair-Chapman, an assistant professor of political science at the University of Rochester, said that Huckabee stood out as the
"Cinderella at the ball" on Tuesday.
"I think Mike Huckabee surprised everyone," said Sinclair-Chapman.
Not every party Tuesday night had a partisan flavor.
About 250 students watched the returns in Wilson Commons at the University of Rochester, an event hosted by the university's chapter of
the national student group "R World, R Vote."
An informal poll showed that Obama was the favorite of the crowd there, according to Bryan Rotach, assistant director for Community
Leadership at the University of Rochester.
JTERRERI@DemocratandChronicle.com
JSPECTOR@Gannett.com
Includes reporting by Ernst Lamothe Jr. and Erica Bryant.
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