Bernie Sanders supporters definitely dominated the room, taking up their own half. Clinton is leading in the race for her party’s nomination with 1,163 delegates to Sanders’ 844.
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It’s too late for Democrats who can’t get to the March 26 precinct caucuses to designate their choices for president, but they can declare their candidacy to represent their precincts at legislative district caucuses and the King County Democratic Convention.
The Idaho Caucuses will begin formal proceedings at 10:00 EDT, with results probably known in 2-3 hours.
With more than 21,000 voters expected to caucus statewide, party leaders were hoping for a repeat of 2008, when a record number of people participated in the state’s caucuses.
Four of the state’s most populated counties have had to make last-minute changes to expand or add new caucus venues to accommodate this year’s expected large crowds.
In Idaho, the Democratic caucus is open to everyone, but the GOP primary is only open to registered Republican voters.
State party spokesman Dean Ferguson says that’s the kind of challenge the party likes to deal with.
An overflow area was opened at CenturyLink Arena next door.
Sanders actually gave some personal attention to Idaho with two campaign appearances.
And while Idaho is one of the most conservative states in the nation, having not voted for a Democratic presidential candidate since Lyndon Johnson in 1964, Sanders actively courted voters here.
The Democratic caucus in Boise, Idaho, was reportedly the “largest caucus in the history of the United States”, City Council member Lauren McLean said, according to the Idaho Statesman.
However, Frances West, 84, said she voted for Clinton because it wasn’t that long ago she was making less compared to the men in her workplace. Clinton also had several state Democratic leaders assisting with her campaign in Idaho, signaling that much of the state’s Democratic establishment were ready to stand with Clinton on Tuesday.
The voting results are still getting tallied, we’ll let you know as soon as we have them. In Idaho, Democratic delegates are awarded proportionally to the amount of the vote received. It’s where voters select delegates who will represent their candidate at the State Convention, held this year June 16-19 in Boise.
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An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated why new voter Justin Pallister is supporting Rocky De La Fuente in the Idaho Democratic Caucus.
