Straw Polls

The Brunswick and Richmond County Democratic Parties held straw polls over the weekend. I usually won’t discuss straw polls on this site because they are not scientific, but it’s a slow news day.

In Brunswick County 100+ people participated and they chose John Edwards as their top presidential choice. Clinton came in second and Obama third.

Results were much different in Richmond County. They chose Barack Obama first, with the support of 27% of the 75+ people participating. Clinton got 21% and Edwards got 20%.

Why was Richmond County different? Richmond County has a slightly higher than normal black population, which might have aided Obama’s victory. In Richmond County during the 2004 primary about 33% of the Democrats were black, that’s higher than the 26% state average.

Or this could be another sign of how popular Obama is among activist Democrats—the type of people willing to volunteer, have bumper stickers and make small campaign donations.

In the gubernatorial race, Richmond County chose Beverly Perdue first with 48% and Richard Moore second with 31%.