A majority of north country Republicans who showed up at the polls on Tuesday picked Mitt Romney in the GOP’s primary-cum-culmination to take on President Obama on Nov. 6.
Dubbed by some as “Super Snoozeday,” the winner was never in doubt, and neither is the near-inevitable nomination of Mr. Romney, the former Massaschusetts governor. Turnout was low on Tuesday, with fewer than one in ten Republicans turning out to vote.
More than 50 percent of voters in Jefferson, Lewis and St. Lawrence counties picked Mr. Romney. U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, a libertarian icon, came in second. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich of Georgia and former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania battled for third and fourth place among the counties.
In Lewis County, 222 voters picked Mr. Romney. Mr. Paul earned 72 votes, Mr. Gingrich took in 62, and Mr. Santorum, who has dropped out of the race, received 53. The results are unofficial, and about 100 absentee ballots have yet to be counted.
There are 8,974 Republicans in Lewis County, meaning that turnout for the race in Lewis County was about 6 percent.
In Jefferson County, 637 voters picked Mr. Romney. Mr. Paul came in second with 200 votes, Mr. Santorum was third with 182 votes, and Mr. Gingrich was last with 166 votes. The Jefferson County Board of Elections received 347 absentee ballots as of Tuesday night. As in Lewis County, turnout was at about 6 percent in Jefferson County.
As of 11:30 p.m. on Tuesday, 89 percent of Lawrence County precincts had reported. Of voters in those districts, 699 voted for Mr. Romney. Mr. Paul was in second place with 252. Mr. Gingrich had 129 votes, and Mr. Santorum had 111.
Mr. Romney is the likely winner of the 11-county congressional district’s two delegates to the Republican National Convention in August in Tampa, Fla.
