Republicans caucus in Benton, Franklin counties ahead of May primary

As many as 500 Republicans from 25 precincts in Benton County were expected to caucus Saturday at the Benton County Fairgrounds.

Precinct committee officer Victor Morris said those attending would talk about their preferences for the party’s presidential nominee as well as choose precinct delegates to the county Republican conventions and discuss the state party’s platform.

When Morris and others started the proceedings, though, only half the tables had any occupants. Those that did sometimes only had two or three people sitting at them.

About 30 or so people were there as they stood for the Pledge of Allegiance and a prayer.

Unlike the Democratic caucuses in Nevada and the Republican primary in South Carolina, no official tally of party members’ preferred presidential candidate was planned.

Participants and organizers said it was still an important day for the party. It is a way to ramp up enthusiasm ahead of this year’s elections, but also a means for people to stand for the presidential candidate of their choice, should one not be a clear winner in the primary.

“That makes (people) who are delegates that much more important,” said Victor Morris, a Benton County precinct committee member.

While Franklin County precincts only met at Columbia Basin College’s Gjerde Center and in Connell, Benton County Republicans met all over the county and Tri-Cities. That’s typically how the county’s Republicans caucus works, but it’s a departure from what was done in 2012.

That year, officials held the caucuses at Three Rivers Convention Center and ended up turning thousands away because of overcrowding.

“It flopped horribly,” Morris said.

Republican officials expected 25,000 Washington voters to caucus Saturday. They’ll determine who will attend their individual county conventions, with Benton and Franklin counties’ conventions in mid- to late March. The state convention will be May 19-21 at TRAC in Pasco.

Washington’s presidential primary is just a few days after the state convention on May 24. Unlike the Democratic primary, the Republican primary results are binding. The number of delegates presidential candidates get will be based on the percentage of the vote they receive, according to an explanation published by the League of Women Voters.

But Morris said that if no Republican presidential candidate receives 50 percent or more approval in the primary, delegates aren’t required to stand for the candidate with the most votes. That’s why caucus-goers share their favorite candidate and vote within their precinct membership to appoint a delegate that ideally mirrors their choice.

Retired Pasco teacher Charles Bickenheuser was the only member of his precinct at the fairgrounds when they started. He’s also a precinct committee officer, meaning he’s already in as a delegate. His preferred candidate? Florida Sen. Marco Rubio.

“He’s young enough, he’s a good man who can grow,” Bickenheuser said. “And no dirty tricks (during the campaign).”

But Bickenheuser said he was more interested in going over the party’s platform during the caucuses and fixing things that muddy the party’s stance or are inaccurate.

For example, the platform, last drafted in 2012, includes a plank that says that the state Republican party will not support any form of nationalized health care. Written to critique the Affordable Care Act approved by Congress under President Obama, Bickenheuser noted that would also apply to Medicare, a health care program many older U.S. citizens of all political stripes approve of.

“I’m interested in the precision of how we use the language,” he said.

Brenda High, a state party committee member and chairwoman of the Franklin County Republicans’ platform committee, said that there were times at past caucuses where the platform discussion took up to four hours.

The goal for Saturday, she told the crowd of a few hundred caucusing at CBC’s Gjerde Center, was to get done as quickly as possible but “make sure no one feels left out with their thoughts and ideas.”

Ultimately, the caucuses aim to rally support for the party’s nomination. In past years, said Franklin County Republican Chairman Brad Gregory, not all the county’s Republicans have done so after their preferred candidate wasn’t chosen.

“We have the votes in Eastern Washington to win the governor’s race, to win the presidential race,” he told caucus goers. “If you’re Republican, we need to get behind the candidate. I really don’t want to have to say President Clinton again.”

The crowd responded with applause.

This story was originally published February 20, 2016 at 8:45 PM with the headline "Republicans caucus in Benton, Franklin counties ahead of May primary."