McCain Wins Washington State GOP Caucus

By Charles Cadwallader and Will Mari

"We got some more results, and at this point in time, I am prepared to say that Senator John McCain has won," said Luke Esser, Washington GOP chairman.

"It appears that Senator McCain has won the 2008 Washington state Republican caucus," he added.

According to Esser, there are 13 counties where counting has been completed, "We will make the effort to get the remaining results as soon as possible." But he said that probably wouldn't be until tomorrow night or Monday morning at the latest.

As it stands, Benton County has reported a majority of their votes.

"Not that it's impossible, but based on our analysis, [Huckabee] would need to double his margin of victory in the counties that he is leading and even with 12% uncommitted, it doesn't appear that he can win at this point," Esser said, "The chances are, statistically, they are unlikely." Esser did congratulate the former Ark. governor for coming so close.

Here are the final numbers for the night, with 87.2% reporting

McCain: 25.5%
Huckabee: 23.7%

Paul: 20.6%

Romney: 16.5%

Uncommitted: 12.7%

Other: 1.1%

Here are the delegate totals:

McCain: 3468

Huckabee: 3226

Paul: 2799

Romney: 2353

Uncommitted: 1729

Other: 144

Total: 13619 out of 16674

Comments

[JJinWI]

I'll say one thing, regardless of who Mitt Romney supports, his delegates will be free to move after McCain fails to win the required majority at the convention. The second voting session will show that Mike Huckabee and Ron Paul are still very much in the running for the nomination. Straw polls mean nothing. Delegates vote for the nominee. St. Paul will straighten this all out.
Not the media, who has already decided that their coverage will be limited to Obama, McCain and Hillary. Serious candidates like Biden and Paul have been completely ignored by the media.
Shame on the pundits for the bias they have shown during this election. A truly disgraceful abuse of their influence over the American public. Let the delegates decide, not the media.

[JJinWI]

I think what the media is not reporting is critical. McCain will not have the majority of delegates going into the convention and will not be chosen on the first delegate vote. After that, the delegates are free to change their vote to any other candidate. With so much animosity towards McCain, this race will remain wide open until the Sept GOP convention. Look for some serious competition after the second vote. Don't listen to what the MSM has already decided. They chose their candidates long ago, and they continue to ignore the other GOP candidates that will still be in the so-called race when the convention votes in St. Paul.
Expect Huckabee and Ron Paul to stick around and collect their well earned delegate support.'
John McCain has nothing wrapped up, unless you consider Straw Poll results, which is basically what outlets like CNN, FOX, and MSNBC are reporting. Those numbers mean nothing.