Local residents flock to neighborhood caucuses

San Juan County residents flocked to neighborhood caucus meetings on March 22 to participate in the first Presidential Preference Caucus in state history.
The crowds arrived despite the lack of contested local elections, and the fact that a surprise spring blizzard hit the area just as the caucuses began.
In the past, Utah has held a Presidential Primary later in the election season and generally long after the Presidential candidates have been determined. This year, the caucus system was used and the date moved up several months.
Utah joined Arizona and Idaho as the focus of the Presidential race on March 22. Most of the candidates spent several days in the state.
San Juan County voters followed the trend of voters throughout the state by supporting Democrat Bernie Sanders and Republican Ted Cruz.
More than 150 people attended the Democrat caucus meetings, which were held at locations in Monticello, Blanding and Bluff.
In addition to registering voters and hearing about the local, state and federal elections, Democrats participated in the Presidential Preference Caucus.
Bernie Sanders received 101 votes (66.4 percent), while Hillary Clinton received the votes of 51 participants (33.6 percent).
Statewide, Sanders secured 79.6 percent of the Democrat vote, with Clinton earning 20.15 percent of the vote.
San Juan County Republicans met in nine locations throughout the county. They also discussed local, state and federal races while selecting delegates to the county and state conventions.
Ted Cruz received 407 votes (71.8 percent) from San Juan County Republicans, while Donald Trump received the votes of 84 participants (14.8 percent) and John Kasich earned 76 votes (13.4 percent).
Statewide, Cruz secured 69.2 percent of the Republican vote, with Kasich earning 16.8 percent and Trump earning 14 percent of the vote.