This past weekend, Washington D.C. residents had the rare chance to influence the presidential race by participating in the D.C. GOP caucus, an event that traditionally doesn’t pull much weight in an election’s outcome. According to the DC Board of Elections, there are approximately 27,000 registered Republicans in the nation’s capital, totaling just about 6 percent of the population.
“In terms of being a D.C. Republican, we have not mattered this much in a presidential primary since Frederick Douglass was a precinct captain here,” noted D.C. GOP executive director Patrick Mara.
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Residents made their way downtown on Saturday to the only voting location, the Loews Madison Hotel, waited in long lines (some up to three and a half hours), and endured dreary and rainy weather. One local voter, Chandler Epp met a woman who lived in communist Romania who said, “Once you’ve live under communism, you vote Republican,” proudly exercising her privilege now as a U.S. citizen.
Kasich and Rubio were the most represented presidential hopefuls, judging by the amount of signs, flyers and badges, along with many #NeverTrump promises from delegates and handouts.
Of the 19 delegates that D.C. has, Rubio took ten and Kasich took nine, leaving Cruz and Trump without a single delegate (both failed to reach the 15 percent threshold). Rubio edged Kasich, receiving 37 percent of the vote to his 36 percent.
Rubio also led with the most delegate endorsements — he had 31 endorsements, nearly a full slate.
Choosing Rubio as Washington’s Republican front-runner could be viewed as supporting the “Republican establishment,” however it could also be argued that Washingtonians know better than most what it takes to do the most powerful job on earth. The men and women who cast their votes on Saturday are the same men and women who serve as Capitol Hill staffers, reporters, non-profit staff, etc. They know the nation’s capital inside and out, and know better than almost anyone how important this election is to the future of the country. Rubio’s Communications Director Alex Conant tweeted on Saturday that, “D.C.’s changed a lot in the last decade. It’s a minority-majority city that’s embracing the future. And today voted for it.”
What’s next? Tuesday’s primaries in five large and important states, most notably Florida and Ohio are up for grabs. The political landscape could change based off of who wins those states. Currently, Trump has 460 delegates, Cruz has 370, Rubio has 163, and Kasich comes in last with 63.
