Franklin County GOP prefers Newt

Mitt Romney may have won the Florida Republican primary, but Newt Gingrich was the clear favorite among the Franklin County GOP.

Out of 711 ballots cast Tuesday, a turnout of 44.2 percent of the county’s 1,609 registered Republicans, the former Speaker of the House captured 340 votes, or 47.8 percent of the total. The former Georgia congressman carried six of the county’s eight precinct, losing to Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, in votes cast in Alligator Point, and tying him on St. George Island.

Romney, who easily won the state’s GOP Presidential preference primary with 46.4 percent of the vote, ran second in Franklin County, with 223 votes, or 31.4 percent.

Former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum, who ran third in the state with 13.4 percent of the total, picked up a nearly identical percentage in Franklin County, with 94 votes, or 13.2 percent.

Texas congressman Ron Paul, who ran fourth in Florida with 7 percent of the votes, did slightly under that percentage in Franklin County, picking up 45 votes, or 6.3 percent.

The four candidates who have dropped out of the GOP race each picked up votes. Minnesota Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann received four, while Texas Governor Rick Perry had three. Former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman and former Godfather’s Pizza CEO Herman Cain each snared a single vote.

Gingrich ran strongest in Carrabelle, where he picked up 54.5 percent of the vote, just slightly ahead of his margin in Eastpoint. He and Romney each received 60 votes on St. George island, or 40 percent of the total there. Paul’s strongest showing was in Lanark Village, with 10 opercent of the votes there. Santorum ran best in Carrabelle, with nearly 18 percent of the vote.

Nearly half of the votes cast in Tuesday’s primary, or about 45.6 percent, were done by absentee ballot or early voting. Of these, a little more than half went to Gingrich, even better than the percentage he received overall.