2008 Louisiana Republican presidential caucuses and primary
January 22 and February 9, 2008
 
Candidate Mike Huckabee John McCain Mitt Romney
Home state Arkansas Arizona Massachusetts
Delegate count 0 0 0
Popular vote 69,594 67,551 10,222
Percentage 43.18% 41.91% 6.34%
 
Candidate Ron Paul
Home state Texas
Delegate count 0
Popular vote 8,590
Percentage 5.33%
Election results by county.
  Mike Huckabee
  John McCain

The 2008 Louisiana Republican presidential caucuses were held on January 22 and the primary on February 9, 2008.

Background

On December 19, 2007, the Republican Party of Louisiana announced the procedures for selection of its delegates to the 2008 Republican National Convention.[1]

The Louisiana caucuses selected 105 delegates to the state convention on February 16 in Baton Rouge. Fifteen delegates (and 15 alternates) from each of the seven congressional districts were elected at the caucus sites. Eligibility to participate was originally restricted to those who had been registered Louisiana Republicans since November 30, 2007 and presented a photo identification, however the restriction date was changed to November 1, 2007 at the last minute. Voters were to select up to 15 candidates on a secret ballot.[2]

Twenty-one delegates to the 2008 RNC will be selected through the caucus process, since each district's 15 delegates to the state convention will separately select three RNC delegates and three alternates for their respective district. In addition, the state convention delegates, as a whole, will select 20 delegates and 20 alternates to the national convention as at-large delegates. Under state party rules, if there is a majority in the February 9 Louisiana primary, these 20 delegates are pledged to vote for the winner. Otherwise, these 20 will officially go to the convention uncommitted. The remaining six members of the RNC delegation are chosen as follows: The Louisiana GOP chair and the two Louisiana representatives on the Republican National Committee ("party delegates") have automatic spots as 2008 RNC delegates, and the other three delegates will be selected by the executive committee of the Louisiana Republican State Central Committee.[3]

Unlike other Republican caucuses, which feature a straw poll (or presidential preference election) prior to the election of delegates to the state convention, no preference election was conducted. All delegates elected at the caucus are "uncommitted" and considered unallocated to any candidate.[3] However, many campaigns will distribute lists of delegates who will vote for their preferred presidential candidate. Delegates can be any Republican who has submitted the necessary paperwork and paid the $100 fee ($50 for alternate delegate).[4] By setting up the caucus in this non-binding way, it allows Louisiana to avoid the delegate penalties that have befallen Michigan, New Hampshire, and South Carolina.[5]

Caucuses

Unofficial delegate assignment results of the January 22 caucuses had been made available on the homepage of the Republican Party of Louisiana.[6] The official results have been released, but the results only indicate which delegates garnered the most votes, and fail to match the delegates with the candidate they support.[6] Preliminary results show John McCain winning the most committed delegates, followed by Ron Paul in second place, and Mitt Romney in third.[7] Ron Paul's campaign is challenging the caucus, citing multiple errors in the process, significant irregularities including the decision by the Louisiana GOP to waive the original deadline which saw Ron Paul leading in delegates pledged to him, and extending the deadline after the fact in order to give other candidates two more days to file delegates.[8]

Locations

Republicans were assigned to one of 11 locations in the state to caucus in.

The locations were:

Location Venue Parishes
Bossier CityCenturyTel CenterCaddo, Bossier, Webster, Claiborne, Bienville, De Soto, Red River
West MonroeWest Monroe Convention CenterUnion, Morehouse, West Carroll, East Carroll, Madison, Tensas, Franklin, Caldwell, Jackson, Lincoln, Ouachita, Richland
PinevilleWalden Gym at Louisiana CollegeRapides, Vernon, Avoyelles, Concordia, Catahoula, La Salle, Grant
Lake CharlesCentral School Arts and Humanities CenterBeauregard, Allen, Jefferson Davis, Calcasieu, Cameron
LafayetteFamily Life ChurchEvangeline, St. Landry, Vermillion, Acadia, Lafayette, St. Martin, Iberia
Baton RougeJefferson Baptist ChurchSt. Helena, Livingston, West Feliciana, East Feliciana, Pointe Coupee, East Baton Rouge, West Baton Rouge, Iberville, Ascension
KennerPontchartrain CenterJefferson, St. Charles, St. John the Baptist, St. James
New OrleansMorial Convention CenterOrleans, St. Bernard, Plaquemines
CovingtonHoliday InnSt. Tammany, Washington, Tangiphoa
HoumaHouma Municipal AuditoriumTerrebonne, Lafourche, Assumption, St. Mary
NatchitochesNatchitoches Events CenterSabine, Natchitoches, Winn

Campaign

The Louisiana caucus has not been well noticed by the media. Many media outlets outside the state focus on the February 9 primary,[9][10] although that primary will select 20 delegates at most to the national convention.

According to the state party, only Mitt Romney, John McCain, and Fred Thompson were campaigning in the state as of December 2007,[5] although Ron Paul will visit the state the day before the caucus.[11] Turnout was expected to be low[12] due to the limited number of sites. Commentators have criticized the state party for the confusing system, which has admitted that the caucus is designed "for people who are politically active... not just casual voters"[13] and that the February 9 primary is just a "beauty contest".[14]

The slate gaining the highest votes was a "pro-family, pro-life" slate which used the image of former President Ronald Reagan to advocate candidate who supported reduced government and a strong national defense.[15]

Results

Ron Paul had the greatest number of delegates by the January 10 deadline, which was then extended to January 12.[16] Ron Paul's campaign is challenging mistakes it claims were made by the Louisiana GOP, including the wrongful issuance of provisional ballots to hundreds of voters, in numbers sufficient to alter the outcome.[8] According to a state Republican Party press release regarding the preliminary results, the order of placement of slates was Uncommitted Pro-Life, McCain, Paul, Romney, others.[6][17] Note that candidates could run on more than one slate. Many of the Uncommitted Pro-Life delegates have since committed to McCain. In addition, after a recount of delegates, the provisional ballots were found not to have changed the results, with about two-thirds of the provisional ballots being cast by members of other parties.[18]

On February 1, 2008, state party chairman Roger F. Villere, Jr., congratulated the McCain campaign via e-mail for winning a majority of the delegates statewide, including receiving a majority of delegates in Congressional Districts 1, 2, 3, 6, and 7. In addition, the party executive committee and the three Louisiana superdelegates have also committed to McCain, thus giving McCain 41 delegates from Louisiana, 35 of which are from the caucus process. This assumes that no other candidate will receive more than 50% in the February 9 primary.[19][20]

Primary

Under Louisiana Republican Party rules, since no candidate received a majority of the vote, no delegates are pledged as a result of this primary. 21 delegates have already indirectly been assigned via the Louisiana Republican caucus held on January 22. The 20 delegates elected at the state convention were formally unpledged, although an estimated 41 of Louisiana's 47 delegates were going to support John McCain, and the state party chair congratulated McCain on winning those 41 delegates, before the primary was held.[19]

Official Results[21]
Candidate Votes Percentage Delegates
Mike Huckabee69,59443.18%0
John McCain67,55141.91%0
Mitt Romney*10,2226.34%0
Ron Paul8,5905.33%0
Fred Thompson*1,6030.99%0
Rudy Giuliani*1.5930.99%0
Alan Keyes8370.52%0
Jerry Curry5210.32%0
Daniel Gilbert1830.11%0
Tom Tancredo*1070.07%0
Duncan Hunter*3680.23%0
Total156,101100%0

* Candidate dropped out of the race before the primary

Convention

At the state convention, held February 16, the Associated Press identified 32 McCain delegates from the caucus process, with three uncommitted and nine unavailable for comment. The AP also confirmed that the three party delegates support McCain, giving him 35 delegates from Louisiana.[22]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "2008 Republican National Convention".
  2. ↑ see, for instance, http://www.lagop.com/docs/Official_Ballot_CD_1D.PDF%5B%5D
  3. 1 2 "Instructions for becoming a Delegate to the 2008 Republican National Convention" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on January 15, 2008. Retrieved January 20, 2008.
  4. ↑ http://www.lagop.com/docs/application_stateDelegate.pdf%5B%5D
  5. 1 2 The Daily Advertiser - www.theadvertiser.com - Lafayette, LA
  6. 1 2 3 "The Republican Party of Louisiana". Retrieved July 17, 2013.
  7. ↑ AFP: McCain wins Louisiana caucus: preliminary results Archived January 27, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  8. 1 2 Ron Paul Campaign Files Caucus Challenge with Louisiana GOP — Ron Paul 2008.
  9. ↑ ABC News: The Note Futures Calendar
  10. ↑ primary chart Archived September 11, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  11. ↑ Ron Paul to Visit Louisiana Monday, January 21: Financial News - Yahoo! Finance
  12. ↑ "GOP Racing Form". Archived from the original on January 12, 2008. Retrieved July 17, 2013.
  13. ↑ Louisiana Presidential Primary A Mockery
  14. ↑ Gambit Weekly : Scuttlebutt : March 25, 2008 Archived July 23, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  15. ↑ Pro-Life. Pro-Family. Official Ballot Archived February 3, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  16. ↑ Political Radar ABC News
  17. ↑ "Louisiana's Results, Clarified". Archived from the original on January 24, 2008. Retrieved July 17, 2013.
  18. ↑ "By the way..." Archived from the original on February 2, 2008. Retrieved July 17, 2013.
  19. 1 2 "The Page - by Mark Halperin - TIME". Time.com. Archived from the original on February 14, 2008. Retrieved July 17, 2013.
  20. ↑ "2012 Elections". Fox News. Archived from the original on February 6, 2008. Retrieved February 2, 2008.
  21. ↑ "Presidential Nominee, Republican Party". Louisiana Secretary of State. February 9, 2008. Archived from the original on September 19, 2008. Retrieved May 24, 2008.
  22. ↑ "Top New Orleans Stories from the AP". Archived from the original on May 22, 2011.
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