Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., not only won big in Maryland’s GOP primary on Tuesday, he won in every jurisdiction.
“In the areas we did the best, we had the greatest effort from volunteers,” said Jim Shalleck, McCain’s campaign director in Maryland. “It was a result of good, old-fashioned politics, with sign-waving and distribution of literature.”
McCain captured his biggest vote tally in Montgomery County, where he amassed 27,366 votes to former Arkansa Gov. Mike Huckabee’s 9,315, according to unofficial returns from the Maryland State Board of Elections.
But his percentage of victory was largest in Talbot County, where McCain garnered 61.4 percent of the votes cast, to Huckabee’s 17.2 percent — for a difference of 44.2 percent of the vote.
McCain’s margin of victory over Huckabee was slimmest in Garrett County, where just 138 votes separated the two–1,733 to 1,595.
But the percentage of votes separating the two was smallest in Washington County: McCain captured 45.8 percent of the votes cast, to Huckabee’s 43.9 percent, for a difference of just 1.9 percent.
Statewide, McCain captured 54.9 percent of the Republican votes in the primary to former Arkansas Gov. Huckabee’s 28.5 percent, according to unofficial returns from the Maryland State Board of Elections. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas and former Assistant Secretary of State Alan Keyes captured 6 percent and 1.1 percent, respectively.
Additional votes were cast for five GOP candidates who had already withdrawn from the race before Tuesday’s primary, but whose names still appeared on the ballot.
About 37.45 percent of registered Republicans and Democrats turned out to vote — the state’s strongest turnout since the 2000 presidential election, said Maryland Republican Party Executive Director John Flynn.
“There was a lot of interest on both sides because for the first time in my memory, Maryland was relevant to the nomination process,” said Shalleck.
–By Maryland Newsline’s Paula Vasan
