Barack Obama thumped Hillary Clinton in D.C.’s Democratic presidential primary Tuesday, trouncing an established Washington insider amid very heavy turnout.
With most precincts reporting, Obama was up 75 percent to Clinton’s 24 percent — 77,432 votes to 24,563. A 35 percent turnout tripled the 2004 primary.
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“Although we won in Washington, D.C., the movement won’t stop until there’s change in Washington, D.C.,” Obama said as he addressed a rally in Madison, Wis.
With his victory, Obama snagged a majority of the city’s 15 pledged delegates — 10 ward-level, two at-large and three alternate. That could prove critical as the Democratic Party selects its nominee. The Illinois senator was expected to win D.C., a majority African-American city with a large contingent of younger voters, but the margin was crucial as the District’s Democratic delegates are apportioned based on the percentage of vote won, not including its 23 superdelegates.
“The longer people get to know Barack Obama and his message of inclusiveness and energy, the more they like him,” Mayor Adrian Fenty told hundreds of supporters packed into a Madison Hotel ballroom.
With 67 percent of the vote, Sen. John McCain easily defeated Mike Huckabee to win the Republican primary and collect all 19 Republican delegates.
Obama received a rock-star-like response outside the Eastern Market Metro station during a visit Tuesday morning. Surrounded by Secret Service agents and swarmed by supporters, the Illinois senator waded into a Dunkin’ Donuts where he purchased pastries and hot chocolate for his volunteers.
“I’d say, maybe the difference is Obama has a lot of young people, which is good,” said Ward 2 D.C. Councilman Jack Evans, co-chairman of Clinton’s D.C. steering committee. “People are excited.”
Turnout was higher than anticipated across the city and some problems were reported — a handful of voting machines broke down and many precincts either ran low on, or ran out of, paper ballots.
After voting at Oyster Bilingual School in Woodley Park, Bill Menczer explained why he backed Clinton.
“She’s got the best chance to win,” he said. “She’s got the best experience, the most knowledge. And I trust her.”
Helen Davisson, who cast her vote for Obama in Shaw, said the senator will “change the spirit of the United States.” D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton said Obama is “exceptionally well-qualified” and “fits the times.”
