Clinton routs Obama; Dems Lunsford, Boswell to face GOP opponents in November

By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette

Election Day, May 20, 2008, 9 p.m. -- QUESTION: What do candidates for president Ron Paul and Barack Obama have in common? ANSWER: They each carried a single Nelson County precinct in Tuesday's primary election.

As predicted, Sen. Hillary Clinton blew out her opponent, Sen. Barack Obama, in both Nelson County and statewide election totals.

Here in Nelson County, Clinton won 70.6 percent of the vote to Obama's 25.8 percent. Across Kentucky, the numbers were equally as bad for Obama. With 94 percent of precincts counted, Clinton had received 65 percent of the vote compared to Obama's 30.6 percent.

The hotly contested race drew lots of Democrats to the polls. In Nelson County, the Democratic voter turnout was nearly 46 percent. The GOP turnout was about 16 percent. The statewide voter turnout for Democrats was just over 40 percent.

Republican candidates had only token opposition. It was the Democratic presidential primary that energized the party's movers and shakers -- and from the vote totals in the county, most Democrats turned out to vote against Barack Obama.

COUNTY DIDN'T TURNOUT FOR OBAMA

Despite the push to promote Obama's candidacy in Nelson County, which included a rally last Saturday at My Old Kentucky Home State Park, visits by campaign representatives and canvassing by campaign workers, Clinton carried every precinct except B102, the precinct that votes at Wickland Baptist Church. There Obama topped Clinton by six votes, 124 to 118. But Clinton dominated the rest of the county; in many precincts she won by 4-to-1 and 5-to-1 ratios over Obama.

Elsewhere in Kentucky Obama's candidacy took hold, and voters turned out to support him.

In Jefferson County, Obama topped Clinton, garnering 53 percent of the vote to Clinton's 44 percent. Obama also carried Fayette County, with 51.4 percent of the vote to Clinton's 45.5 percent. Across the rest of rural Kentucky, Obama found few supporters. In Ashland's Boyd County, Clinton took 77 percent of the vote. In neighboring Marion County, Clinton received 79 percent of the vote. The results were similar, from Fulton County in the west to Pike County in the east, where Clinton received 91 percent of the vote.

DEMOCRATIC RACE FOR SENATE

In Nelson County Bruce Lunsford topped Greg Fischer in the race for the Democratic nomination for

U.S. Senate, getting 48 percent of the vote to Fischer's 41 percent.

In statewide results, Lunsford fared even better, with 51.2 percent of the vote to Fischer's 34 percent with 96.5 percent of precincts reporting. Lunsford will face incumbent Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell in the November election.

Among the other candidates in the Democratic Senate primary, perennial candidate David L. Williams of Glasgow was third with 5.5 percent of the votes -- nearly 33,000 votes in all.

2ND DISTRICT U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

State Sen. David Boswell of Owensboro handily defeated Daviess County Judge-Executive Reid Haire, garnering 58 percent of the vote to Haire's 42 percent. Boswell's lengthy experience as a legislator and greater name recognition gave him the edge. Statewide vote totals mirrored Nelson County's votes, with Boswell getting 58.6 percent of the vote to Haire's 41.4 percent.

Boswell will face fellow state Sen. Brett Guthrie in November to fill the seat being vacated by retiring Rep. Ron Lewis.

For the record, the Nelson County precinct that Ron Paul won in the primary was the A101 precinct which votes at the J & L Mini Mart in Howardstown.