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Trump Wins Kentucky Presidential Caucus, His 12th Victory So Far

Rhonda Miller, WKU Public Radio

Donald Trump is adding Kentucky to the list of states in his win column during the 2016 primary season.

Trump won Saturday's presidential caucus in the Bluegrass State with 35.9 percent of vote.

Texas Senator Ted Cruz placed second with 31.6 percent. Trump collected almost 10,000 more votes in Kentucky than Cruz.

Florida Senator Marco Rubio was a distant third, with 16.4 percent, and Ohio Governor John Kasich was fourth, with 14.4 percent.

Both Warren and Daviess counties went for Cruz. He took 34 percent in Warren County, a seven point win over Trump. Cruz took Daviess County by 12 points over Trump. Hardin County Republicans narrowly went for Trump by one percent over Cruz.

Trump won Pulaski County by ten percent.

Long lines formed at caucus sites throughout the state Saturday, as Republicans gathered to choose their presidential pick. An official with the Warren County Republican Party estimated GOP turnout in that county at around 17.5 percent. By comparison, 16.2 percent of Kentucky Republicans participated in the 2012 presidential primary.

Several caucus sites in our region reported lines of people forming before voting began at 10 am. Caucus workers in Bowling Green, Franklin, and Glasgow said some voters showed up as early at 8 am, only to be told they couldn't cast ballots until two hours later.

David Cross cast his vote for businessman Donald Trump at the Barren County caucus site. Cross said he wanted to send a message to Washington D.C.

"People that are up there are not doing us any good. We need a change," Cross said.

But not every Republican who caucused in Glasgow agreed that Trump is the answer to the nation’s problems. Marsha Cochran backed Ted Cruz, and said a Trump primary win would be a disaster.

“God help us all," Cochran said. "I’d probably move out of the country. I’m looking at the Bahamas or Belize, I think.

Saturday was an experiment of sorts for Kentucky Republicans. Party leaders agreed to decide their presidential candidate in a caucus instead of the primary in May. They did that so Kentucky Senator Rand Paul could run for president and re-election to his Senate seat at the same time.

It remains to be seen if party leaders will do this again in four years.

If 80 year old Floy Stringer of Franklin has her way, the answer will be “no”. She votes in every election, and says she wasn’t impressed with the caucus.

“I don’t really like it. Maybe I don’t understand enough about it," she said. "I guess that’s it more than anything else. I don’t really understand caucuses. It was different and, you know, I voted for so long and it’s just a difference. None of us like changes. But the one thing constant is change and we have to accept that.”

Kevin is the News Director at WKU Public Radio. He has been with the station since 1999, and was previously the Assistant News Director, and also served as local host of Morning Edition.
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