Politics from the Palouse to Puget Sound

Thursday, January 10, 2008

How Washington Will Select Its 40 Delegates to the Republican National Convention

It's a bit cryptic. But the race for the Republican nomination is still very much up in the air and Washington will probably be a major player for the first time in years. YOU can play a part by attending the Whitman County Republican Caucuses on February 9.

Half of the GOP delegates will come from the caucus process, the other half through the statewide primary. The Democrats are selecting ALL their delegates through the caucuses, making their primary a time-wasting and expensive beauty contest.

From The Green Papers:

Washington has 40 delegates.

  • 3 party leaders, the National Committeeman, the National Committeewoman, and the chairman of the Washington's Republican Party, will attend the convention as unpledged delegates by virtue of their position.

  • 37 (27 district and 10 at-large) delegates are elected by the Primary and the Caucuses.
  • 51% (37 × 0.51 = 18.87, round to 19) of these delegates are elected by Primary.

  • 49% (37 × 0.49 = 18.13, round to 18) of these delegates are elected by Caucus.
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    Saturday 9 February 2008: Precinct Caucuses.

    Republican Party Caucuses meet in each precinct. Participants are required to sign a form stating they are Republicans (as voters do not have to declare political party membership to vote in the state's regular primaries or general elections). Each Precinct Caucus chooses the precinct's delegates to the County Convention. The County Conventions will, in turn, choose delegates to the State Convention. There is no formal system applied in the Precinct Caucuses to relate the presidential preference of the Caucus participants to the choice of the precinct's delegates. The participants at each Precinct Caucus alone determine if presidential preference is to be a factor in such choice and, if so, how it is to be applied.

    The Caucuses initiate the process of electing 18 (49% of 37) of the National Convention delegates. These delegates will attend the Republican National Convention officially "Unpledged".

    Tuesday 19 February 2008: Primary.

    19 (1 from each of the 9 Congressional Districts and 10 at-large) of Washington's delegates to the Republican National Convention are allocated to presidential contenders based on the results of voting in today's Washington Presidential Primary. Voters are required to sign a form stating they are Republicans (as voters do not have to declare political party membership to vote in the state's regular primaries or general elections).
  • 9 district delegates are to be allocated to presidential contenders based on the primary results in each of the 9 congressional districts: each congressional district is assigned 1 National Convention delegate and the presidential contender receiving the greatest number of votes in that district will receive that district's National Convention delegate.

  • 10 delegates are to be allocated proportionally to presidential contenders based on the primary vote statewide. A 20 percent threshold is required in order for a presidential contender to be allocated National Convention delegates at the statewide level.
  • Saturday 22 March - Saturday 3 May 2008 (tentative date): Republican Party County Conventions convene in each county. Each County Convention chooses delegates to both the Congressional District Conventions and the State Convention.
  • County Conventions choose both the county's delegates to the Republican Party Convention of the Congressional District the county is a part of as well as the county's delegates to the Washington State Republican Convention. Again, there is no formal system applied in the County Convention to relate the presidential preference of the County Convention delegates to the choice of the county's delegates to either the Republican Convention of the Congressional District in which the county is located or the Washington State Republican Convention; each County Convention alone determine if presidential preference is to be a factor and, if so, how it is to be applied.

  • Once more, there is no formal system governing how the District Convention is to go about indicating its presidential preference to the State Convention. It is the delegates in attendance at the Congressional District Convention alone who decide how best to go about this.
  • Friday 30 May - Saturday 31 May 2008: The State Convention convenes.

    There is no formal system applied in the State Convention to relate the presidential preference of the Caucus participants to the choice of the National Convention delegates. The participants at the State Convention alone determine if presidential preference is to be a factor in such choice and, if so, how it is to be applied.
  • The State convention elects 18 delegates. These delegates will attend the Republican National Convention officially "Unpledged".

  • 3 party leaders, the National Committeeman, the National Committeewoman, and the chairman of the Washington's Republican Party, will attend the convention as unpledged delegates by virtue of their position.


  • Whitman County Republican Caucus Loctions (with contact name and phone number):

    ALL CAUCUSES TO BE HELD SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 9 AT 1:00 PM

    Check your voter registration card or call the Whitman County Auditor’s Office at (509) 397-6270 to verify your precinct before caucus day.

    Tekoa #101
    Farmington #103

    127 S. Leslie
    Tekoa 99033
    Bunny Bippes & Wendy Sienknecht
    509-284-3171

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    Garfield #104

    1008 Spokane St., Garfield
    Susan Love
    509-635-1250

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    Oakesdale #102
    Palouse #106
    Palouse #107
    Malden #150
    Rosalia #151
    Thornton #152

    Oakesdale Fire Station #10
    108 N. 1st. St.
    Oakesdale
    John Goyke
    509-285-5333

    ------------------------------------------------

    Colton #108
    Uniontown #109

    Colton School Library
    706 Union Street
    Colton
    Eric Bean
    509-229-3779

    ------------------------------------------------

    Pullman #110
    Pullman #111
    Pullman #112
    Pullman #113
    Pullman #114
    Pullman #115
    Pullman #116
    Pullman #117
    Pullman #118
    Pullman #119
    Pullman #120
    Pullman #121
    Pullman #123
    Pullman #124
    Pullman #125
    Pullman #126
    Pullman #127
    Pullman #128
    Pullman #129
    Pullman #130
    Pullman #131
    Pullman #132
    Pullman #133
    Pullman #134
    Pullman #234
    Pullman #235

    Franklin Elementary School Cafeteria
    850 SE Klemgard
    Pullman
    Susan Fagan
    509-332-1702

    ------------------------------------------------

    Pullman #122

    345 N.W. Linda
    Pullman
    Ron Wachter
    509-334-2591

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    Steptoe #104
    Colfax #136
    Wilcox #138
    Colfax #139
    Colfax #140
    Colfax #141
    Colfax #142

    Sterling Savings Bank
    803 N. Main St.
    Colfax 99111
    Michael Largent
    509-397-3205

    ------------------------------------------------

    Colfax #137

    Lustig Residence
    4202 Ed Hamilton Road,
    Endicott, 99125
    Vangee Harrison
    509-397-3353

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    #143 Dusty
    #144 Hay
    #145 Hooper
    #146 LaCrosse

    LaCrosse City Hall
    LaCrosse
    Harmon Smith
    509-549-3368

    ------------------------------------------------

    Endicott #147

    401 D Street
    Endicott, 99125
    Greg Burns
    509-657-3640

    ------------------------------------------------

    #148 Lamont
    #149 St. John

    4 West Short St.
    St. John, 99171
    Steve Naught
    509-648-4091

    2 comments:

    Satanic Mechanic said...

    Tom,
    How many precincts are there in the county? Are they the voting precincts or are they determined by the party? Out of curiosity, I have never participated in caucus before.

    Anonymous said...

    There are 56 precints in the county. They are indeed the voting precincts. I am posting the locations of all the Republican caucuses above.