Mike Huckabee Wins West Virginia Caucus, First of Super Tuesday GOP Voting

State   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Feb 5, 2008   |   9:00AM   |   WASHINGTON, DC

Mike Huckabee Wins West Virginia Caucus, First of Super Tuesday GOP Voting Email this article
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
February 5,
2008

Charleston, WV (LifeNews.com) — Mike Huckabee won the first contest on Super Tuesday as he picked up another 18 delegates thanks to a top showing at the West Virginia Republican convention. Huckabee polled well but some observers say his win was due to support from backers of John McCain wanting to prevent Mitt Romney from winning.

The convention was one of the state caucuses on the big primary voting day and it saw more than one thousand delegates vote for their favorite GOP candidate.

The first round of voting had Romney taking 41 percent to 33 percent for Huckabee and 15 percent for McCain.

West Virginia Republicans dropped Ron Paul’s name from the first ballot as he finished in fourth with 10 percent and no candidate had emerged with more than 50 percent of the vote.

Before the second round of voting, according to a Fox News report, former Louisiana Gov. Buddy Roemer, a McCain backer, told delegates for the Arizona senator to back Huckabee to prevent Romney from winning.

Huckabee eventually won the second round of balloting with 51.5 percent to Romney’s 47.4 percent.

After the victory, the Huckabee camp told reporters that it felt the victory would give them added momentum going into votes in several southern states, including Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia and Tennessee.

Jim Mazzella, a delegate from Tucker County, told AP he planned to support Huckabee because of his pro-life views.

"We’re very driven by the pro-life issue, and he’s made that a very big part of his campaign,” Mazzella said. “He seems to be clear about where he stands on the issues, and I like the way he presents himself.”