While Democrats in most other Maine counties voted by at least two-thirds in favor of Bernie Sanders, the Vermont Senator’s lead in Aroostook County was a bit narrower.
In Maine’s Democratic presidential caucus, Sanders earned 64.3 percent of the vote statewide, and he and Hillary Clinton will share the delegates proportionally based on the turnout in the 1st and 2nd congressional districts.
Sanders won more than 70 percent of the vote in Franklin, Oxford, Waldo and Washington counties, though in Aroostook County he pulled in 55 percent, the only county in the state where Democrats gave him less than 60 percent.
In Houlton, Sanders earned 76 percent of the vote, while winning 58 percent in Presque Isle.
Clinton and Sanders roughly tied, however, in Caribou, Easton, Fort Fairfield and Fort Kent — and Clinton won in Frenchville and Madawaska.
At the caucus in Houlton, Sanders supporters argued that their candidate’s proposals for Medicare for all and tuition-free public college could help solve some of the region’s economic problems.
“I am going to go down with Bernie no matter what,” John Pasquarelli of Hodgdon said.
Among Clinton supporters who came out in Houlton, some saw her long and varied tenure in politics as a good sign of her abilities.
“I don’t believe that Bernie Sanders has the experience,” Richard Silliboy of Littleton. “Free college and medical care sounds goods, but the number of people in this country are too large for that too happen.”
Editor’s note: Staff Writer Anthony Brino contributed to this story.
