Marie Mason
Local residents gathered at the Caliente Firehouse to participate in the Republican presidential caucus Tuesday evening.
Lincoln County residents joined with the rest of Nevada to cast their votes in the “first in the west” presidential caucuses.
Donald Trump won the caucus among the state’s Republicans with nearly 46 percent of the vote. But it was a different story in Lincoln County, where Texas Sen. Ted Cruz finished ahead of the billionaire businessman. In the county, Cruz received 44.5 percent of the vote, Trump had nearly 29 percent, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio 16 percent, neurosurgeon Ben Carson 9.5 percent, and Ohio Gov. John Kasich received one percent.
The caucus was held Tuesday evening, and votes were cast at a single location, the Caliente Firehouse, where 285 county residents participated.
Statewide, Rubio came in second with nearly 24 percent of the vote. Cruz followed with 21 percent. Carson and Kasich were in the low single digits.
Elko was the only other county where Cruz finished first. Trump won in all other counties.
On the Democratic side, Lincoln County aligned with the rest of the Silver State, giving the nod to Hillary Clinton. The former Secretary of State won with 52.6 percent of the vote. Senator Bernie Sanders received 47.3 percent.
It was not as close in Lincoln County, where Clinton garnered 60.3 percent, compared to 39.7 percent for Sanders.
Sixty-three county residents participated in the Democratic caucus, which was held Saturday in Pioche, Caliente and Alamo.
