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47 °F Forecast | Road Cams Wednesday, March 23, 2005 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Health Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Real Estate Guide Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley SHOP OUR VALLEY AutoFinder HomeFinder JobFinder Classified Place an ad TOP JOBS EXTRA Ashland News NIE Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People Volunteer Moving here? eSouthernOregon CUSTOMER SERVICE FAQ's Advertise with us Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend November 30, 2004 Most local precincts favored Bush By DAMIAN MANN Mail Tribune Most Jackson County voting precincts went solidly for President Bush in the Nov. 2 general election, with only a few outposts of support for Sen. John Kerry, final election results show. While nine precincts in the Ashland and Talent areas, one at the Veterans Affairs domiciliary and one in southwest Medford favored Kerry, the remaining 40 precincts sided with Bush, according to a recent precinct-by-precinct analysis compiled by the county Elections Center. The results show 103,026 voters, or 83.71 percent, cast ballots in the election. Fifty-five percent of voters chose Bush, and 43 percent chose Kerry, with about 2 percentfalling to other candidates. Diane Davidson, who recently replaced Bryan Platt as the head of the Jackson County Republican Central Committee, said, "I’m excited that we were as strong as we were for Bush." Advertisement Chuck Keil, who replaces Bill Layton as the chairman of the Jackson County Democratic Central Committee, said, "We have a few islands of liberal reality in a sea of conservative myopia." Central Point, Eagle Point, Rogue River and many rural areas of the county favored Bush by a margin of two or three to one, while 59 percent of voters in Medford chose Bush. In three of Ashland’s six precincts, five times as many voters favored Kerry as Bush. Precincts that supported Bush also tended to approve Ballot Measure 36, the marriage initiative, while areas that went for Kerry voted against it or barely approved it. The measure won in Jackson County with 52 percent of the votes, with only eight precincts against it. Measure 37, the land-use initiative, received even more widespread approval, with 60 percent of county voters favoring it and seven precincts against it. Reflecting past elections, the Rogue Valley Manor precinct had the highest voter turnout, 93 percent, while the domiciliary and Southern Oregon University precincts had the lowest, 64 and 65 percent, respectively. Other precincts with turnouts around 90 percent included five in Ashland, three in Medford, two in Jacksonville and one each in Phoenix and Applegate. Areas with turnouts of less than 80 percent included Prospect, White City and some precincts in west Medford and west Central Point. Keil said Democrats did better this election than in 2000. "Bush’s margin of victory was 13,000 and change in 2000, and now it’s 12,000 and change," he said. "Bush’s margin of victory shrunk by 1,000 votes." While Democrat Sue Densmore lost to C.W. Smith in the race for a county commission seat, Keil said she actually garnered more votes countywide than Kerry. Davidson said the support for Bush and other Republicans is the result of a strong grassroots effort during the past six years. However, she did say that some precincts with lower turnouts need more work. As both parties plan ahead to other elections, they have decided to open year-round headquarters. The Republicans are looking for a permanent home for their office. The Democrats’ permanent is at 328 S. Central Ave. Reach reporter Damian Mann at 776-4476, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback Student Loan Consolidation Conference Calls - $50/Month Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker, Trunk, Footlockers home equity loans helzberg Slippers Student Loans afsa teleconferencing Memory Foam Mattress w2 forms Tatoo Advertisement s