Hernando's Turnout Bests State Average

BROOKSVILLE - Hernando County voters hit the polls in earnest this time around, besting the state turnout rate by more than 7 percent.

The county hit 45.4 percent - or 52,528 of 115,713 registered voters, according to the Hernando County Supervisor of Elections Office. Compare that to a 28.4 percent turnout for the 2004 presidential primary.

The state boasted a nearly 38 percent turnout rate on Tuesday.

Locally, nearly 47 percent of registered Democrats and 53 percent of registered Republicans hit the polls.

The county had a clear role in helping New York Sen. Hillary Clinton and Arizona Sen. John McCain come out on top in the final statewide tally.

And Hernando also is among the counties that overwhelmingly passed the Amendment 1 property tax reform measure.

Consider:

- Hernando County had the second-highest percentage of Democrats - 60.5 percent - to cast a vote for Hillary Clinton. Only Osceola County had more at 61.3 percent.

That gave Clinton a 38 percent margin of victory in Hernando over her closest challenger, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama. Statewide, that margin was 17 percent.

- McCain, earning 36 percent of the vote, had a little more wiggle room here over his closest challenger Mitt Romney; McCain's 7 point margin of victory over Romney here is two points more than the statewide margin.

- In Hernando, 70 percent approved Amendment 1. That makes Hernando one of 15 of the state's 67 counties that hit or broke the 70 percent approval rate. The amendment passed after 64 percent of statewide voters said yes.

Florida, Hernando Voting Identical In Other Races

In most cases, however, the choices of local voters reflected the preferences of those statewide.

Some other notes from the primary results:

- Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani didn't appear to get a bump in the Republican race that some theorized he might enjoy from the county's numerous New York transplants. His 16.5 percent here virtually mirrored statewide results.

- Also on the Republican side, Fred Thompson fizzled here as he did throughout Florida, garnering 1 percent locally and statewide; Mike Huckabee's 13 percent and Ron Paul's 3 percent also are nearly identical to their showing statewide.

- On the Democratic side, Sen. John Edwards, who garnered 15 percent here, had the same showing in Florida.

Florida Democratic Party Chairwoman Karen Thurman called local party Chairman Jay Rowden Wednesday to congratulate him on the Democratic turnout and on the especially strong showing for Clinton.

Thurman asked Rowden why he thought Clinton did so well.

He theorized that Clinton enjoys popularity among elderly Democrats who "reflect back to President Bill Clinton and how the government operated, outside his extracurricular activities."

"Things ran well, governmentally speaking, and I think a lot of people respect them for that," said Rowden, adding that he also has noted popularity for Clinton with women between the ages of 29 and 35.

The local conservative base is not especially pleased by McCain's showing "because they don't consider McCain a strong conservative," said Ana Trinque, chairwoman of the Hernando County Republican Party.

Trinque said she is hearing rumors that McCain might consider Huckabee as a candidate for vice-president should McCain win the nomination. Huckabee appealed to the party's evangelical base that is generally turned off by McCain.

"I think it could be a good balance," Trinque said.

The turnout for Clinton in Hernando is puzzling, Trinque said.

"I'm just beside myself to hear such a thing," she said, though she added that a Clinton nomination could work in Republican's favor because the New York senator is such a polarizing figure.

Many moderates who disdain her could swing to the Republicans.

"I think it's going to be easier to campaign against her," Trinque said.