Even split between Clinton, Sanders in Snohomish County primary

EVERETT — Ballot counting for the presidential primary ended Tuesday and the results show Democratic voters in Snohomish County evenly split on who should be their party’s nominee this fall.

Hillary Clinton, the front-running Democrat and likely nominee, collected 52.4 percent of the Democratic vote statewide to beat Bernie Sanders by roughly 40,000 votes.

It was much closer in Snohomish County, where she garnered 50.9 percent and edged Sanders by 1,780 votes in the final tally certified Tuesday by the county auditor.

The two battled in precincts in every city across the county.

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She won a majority of votes in nine cities including Edmonds, Lynnwood, Mukilteo and Mill Creek, while he recorded wins in 10 cities including Everett, Marysville, Lake Stevens and Arlington. In Stanwood, Sanders beat Clinton by just two votes.

For Republicans, the election provided a much different storyline.

Billionaire businessman Donald Trump, the presumptive GOP nominee, captured 73.2 percent of Republican votes cast in the county, 75.5 percent statewide. His victory margin is not surprising since he was the only candidate actively campaigning at the time of the May 24 election.

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas wound up a distant second followed by Ohio Gov. John Kasich and Dr. Ben Carson. In Snohomish County, Kasich did finish ahead of Cruz in Edmonds, Mill Creek, Mukilteo, Tulalip and Bothell.

Next week, Secretary of State Kim Wyman will formally certify the election in which 1.4 million people statewide participated even though the outcome has little bearing on the nominees chosen by the two major parties.

The state Republican Party is using the results to allot its 44 delegates. They all will go to Trump and those delegates must support him on the first ballot at next month’s GOP national convention.

The state Democratic Party is ignoring the primary as it relies on its caucus process to allocate delegates to presidential candidates.

That didn’t dampen enthusiasm of Democratic voters. The county tallied 82,726 valid votes for Democratic candidates versus 58,942 for Republican candidates. Statewide, there were 200,000 more votes cast by Democrats than Republicans.

And it worked to Clinton’s benefit. Her performance in the primary comes weeks after the former U.S. secretary of state suffered a crushing defeat to Sanders, a U.S. senator from Vermont, in party caucuses in the county and all across Washington.

Meanwhile, on Monday, the Associated Press reported Clinton had secured commitments from enough delegates to assure her nomination on the first ballot at the party’s national convention. It includes endorsements from superdelegates like Gov. Jay Inslee, U.S. Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, and U.S. Reps. Rick Larsen and Suzan DelBene, both of whom represent parts of Snohomish County.

The declaration, coming on the eve of the California primary, drew a sharp rebuke Monday from Sanders’ campaign spokesman.

“It is unfortunate that the media, in a rush to judgment, are ignoring the Democratic National Committee’s clear statement that it is wrong to count the votes of superdelegates before they actually vote at the convention this summer,” spokesman Michael Briggs said in a statement.

“Secretary Clinton does not have and will not have the requisite number of pledged delegates to secure the nomination,” he continued. “She will be dependent on superdelegates who do not vote until July 25 and who can change their minds between now and then.”

Jerry Cornfield: 360-352-8623; jcornfield@heraldnet.com.

By the numbers

Here is the final tally of votes votes cast in Snohomish County as certified Tuesday by the Snohomish County Auditor.

Republican

Donald Trump 43,159 73.2 percent

Ted Cruz 6.639 11.3 percent

John Kasich 5,660 9.6 percent

Ben Carson 2,314 3.9 percent

Democrat

Hillary Clinton 42,135 50.9 percent

Bernie Sanders 40,355 48.8 percent

How people voted