Republicans gather for annual caucuses

    Congressman Ron Paul captured 59 percent of the vote at the Aroostook County Republican Regional Caucus events held in Fort Kent, Presque Isle and Houlton on February 3-4. Aroostook County Republican Committee Chairman, Hayes Gahagan, said “Ron Paul was the clear winner at each of the Aroostook County Caucus Events.”
    The following is the total Aroostook County vote count for each candidate: Ron Paul, 81 (59 percent); Mitt Romney, 26 (19 percent); Rick Santorum, 17 (12 percent); and Newt Gingrich, 13 (9 percent).
    Statewide, however, Romney was declared the winner of the Republican caucuses, receiving 2,190 votes (39 percent). Paul was a close second with 1,996 (36 percent), while Santorum received 989 votes (18 percent); Gingrich collected 349 (6.25 percent) and 61 “other” candidates received votes.
    On Monday, Gahagan said that all Maine caucus straw votes should be counted as a matter of state and Republican Party integrity.
    “With the state-wide straw poll race so close between Governor Romney and Congressman Paul, the Maine Republican Party should allow the remaining 16 percent of the straw votes to be counted and reported,” Gahagan said. “Regardless of who ultimately wins, we should be conducting free and fair straw polls without succumbing to media opportunism. This is not candidate or agenda-driven; it is matter of process integrity.”
    He added that this year’s Republican caucus made a case for Maine to switch from a caucus state to a primary state because the vote was so close.
    “Ron Paul supporters” said Gahagan “were passionate, polite and well-informed, many of them attending a Republican caucus for the first time. What struck me is how well the Paul supporters were able to articulate support for their candidate. These were not your normal political talking points, but heart-felt expressions of belief in and support for what I would suggest is a national political movement, not a personality.
    “Their message to the Republican caucus events,” he continued, “was one of support for the universal principles embodied in U.S. constitutional representative government, the protection of our Creator-given rights, including our right to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness, and our right to bear arms.
    “Based on the attendance and voting at the Aroostook County Republican caucuses,” said Gahagan, “one could conclude that Congressman Paul’s message of individual liberty and a stronger America may resonate beyond Fort Kent, Presque Isle, and Houlton.”