Romney winner of Washington state’s caucuses

Mitt Romney won Washington state’s GOP caucuses Saturday, giving him a welcome tail wind as he heads into the Super Tuesday presidential contests.

The former Massachusetts governor led from early on after a day of caucusing by Washington voters. Texas Rep. Ron Paulappeared headed for second place, ahead of former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who barely contested the state, was a distant fourth.

“The voters of Washington have sent a signal that they do not want a Washington insider in the White House,” Romney said in a victory statement issued by his campaign. “They want a conservative businessman who understands the private sector and knows how to get the federal government out of the way so that the economy can once again grow vigorously.”

The results were based on a nonbinding straw poll of participants in the caucuses, and thus have no direct bearing on the nomination. Voters also chose party delegates, most of them pledged — but, again, not required — to support a candidate.

Paul had hoped Washington would give him his first victory of the primary campaign, and his organization dominated some caucuses — but not enough. Santorum drew strong support from social conservatives, but couldn’t overtake Romney in a state with a relatively moderate Republican base. As in other states, Romney’s commanding organization gave him the edge, as he hopes it will in Ohio and other states voting Tuesday.

The caucuses, at least some of them, were loud, contentious, messy, confusing — what some might describe as democratic (although some participants preferred republican, with a small “r”). “You can’t get any more grass-roots,” said Dave Nibarger, who hosted 50 people at his house in an upscale suburban area of North Spokane. “It isn’t just who has the most bucks.”

This was the first time since 1988 that Washington state held only caucuses to determine its presidential preference. That year, victories by Pat Robertson in the Republican caucuses and Jesse Jackson in the Democratic gatherings led to calls for primaries that would bring more moderate voters into the mix. Beginning in 1992, Washington held both primaries and caucuses. The primary was scrapped this year as a cost-saving measure.

The result was a much larger caucus turnout than in the past and some confusion by first-time caucusgoers about what to do.

Participants began by casting votes in the nonbinding straw poll. They then met by precinct, in groups of fewer than six to 40 or more people. These groups selected delegates to a county convention who will later select delegates to a state convention. At that convention, which begins May 30, participants will select delegates to the National Republican Convention.

Given all that, caucusgoers dove into their task with enthusiasm but not always clarity.

“I’m new to this,” precinct captain Steve Schennum told the other seven people in his group as they launched, somewhat uncertainly, into the selection of delegates. They were one of 19 precinct caucuses seated in tight circles at the Corbin Senior Center in central Spokane.

Schennum, a professor of electrical engineering at Gonzaga University who favored Paul, shepherded the group through a lengthy discussion of the candidates’ positions on the issues, primarily foreign policy and healthcare. The discussions were spirited but polite, even friendly.

One young Romney supporter worried that Paul would acquiesce toIran’sdevelopment of nuclear weapons. “He’s going to stand by and let Israel be wiped out,” he said.

“We worry about Iran,” a Paul voter responded. “But we can’t afford to go start another war.”

And so it went. Schennum concluded that the caucuses were the lesser of evils in the democratic process.

“It’s excruciating,” he said. “I can understand why people are reluctant to do it. It’s an ugly process, but it’s hard to corrupt it.”

mitchell.landsberg@latimes.com