Tagged: presidential primary

The "beauty contest" nature of Missouri's presidential primary earlier this week may have contributed to the lowest turnout for a presidential primary  in the state's history.

Just 8 percent of the state's registered voters cast ballots in the Republican and Democratic primaries. About 252,000 people voted in the GOP race, and 73,000 in the Democratic primary. While the Democratic vote awarded delegates, unlike the Republican contest, President Obama faced no serious opposition.

With the primary predicted to cost about $7 million, that works out to a cost of $21.45 per voter.

Former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum racked up a sizeable victory in Missouri's Republican primary last night, winning all 114 counties and the city of St. Louis and beating his nearest rival, Mitt Romney, by 30 points. Final unofficial results from the Secretary of State showed Santorum more than doubling Romney's vote total.

For an election that shouldn't matter on paper, Missouri's primary on Tuesday may carry a lot of weight.

The state's Republican electorate tends to be both populist and conservative. That could give former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, who has campaigned in Missouri the most – and the most recently – among GOP presidential candidates the chance for a strong showing.

"The more conservative people are going to come out for Santorum," says Eugene Dokes, GOP chairman in St. Charles County in suburban St. Louis, which is the state's largest source of Republican votes. "I think Santorum definitely is going to carry St. Charles County."