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Barack Obama and Mitt Romney have won the Alaska’s presidential caucuses.

With 39 of 40 districts reporting, Obama was leading the Democratic race with 74 percent of the vote. Hillary Clinton had 25 percent.

Among Republicans, Romney had a commanding lead over Mike Huckabee with 30 of 40 districts reporting. Romney took 44 percent of the vote compared to Huckabee with 22 percent. Ron Paul was leading John McCain for third place.

Alaskans fought overflowing crowds and bone-chilling weather Tuesday to cast their votes in the state’s Democratic and Republican caucuses.

Democrats in Anchorage, the state’s largest city, pushed the start of caucuses back a half hour to allow people to find parking and get inside the meeting hall, a middle school. The fire marshal instructed police to begin towing cars from the school.

Large crowds also greeted Democratic voters in Fairbanks, where several hundred people gathered at a community center — the main caucus site. Police there asked crowds to move their vehicles off the streets to keep emergency lanes open.

Several thousand Anchorage Democrats packed various gathering points at Begich Middle School. Various chants could be heard, including “Yes We Can,” and “Obama” and “Hillary” coming from the two camps.

“I like the feeling I get from him. It is time for a change. I don’t want a manager anymore. I want a leader,” said John Sorenson, 60, a Barack Obama supporter.

J.T. Watson, 25, said he will be voting Democratic for the first time. He is supporting Hillary Clinton largely because of her support for certain social issues, specifically women’s issues and gay rights.

“I like her because she has such a bright outlook,” said Watson, a former Republican. “I couldn’t find anybody I liked on the social issues, so I am switching parties.”

Both Democratic and Republican venues were hopping in Alaska’s capital city as people braved more than 2 feet of new snow, slippery roads and biting winds to weigh in. At the ballroom of the Hangar at the Wharf restaurant, a steady stream of Republicans poured in to mark their ballot and quickly leave.

Print shop owner Chuck Collins was there to cast a vote for John McCain, whom he described as a more centrist candidate. Collins was pleasantly surprise at the turnout.

“Especially, you know, in Juneau where our counterparts, the Democrats, usually have better turnout than we do,” said Collins.

Indeed, Centennial Hall where the Democrats gathered was a congested mob. Lines for the food table crisscrossed lines for the various districts as a crush of people munched snacks and hobnobbed in the confusion.

Teacher Cinda Stanek wasn’t sure which line to stand in but she was there to cast her vote for Obama.

“I’m ready for a change. More than any other time I can remember I am excited for this presidential election,” she said.

The harshest weather conditions were in Alaska’s interior, where some communities were braving temperatures pushing 60 below zero. The bitter cold in Fairbanks, where the mid-afternoon temperature was minus 33, kept sign wavers off street corners.

Voters in the western Alaska community of Nome were greeted by sunny skies and temperatures of minus Tuesday as they made their way to caucus sites.

In Barrow, the nation’s northernmost town, Paula and Leon Boyea conducted GOP voting at their house — a last-minute choice. Her three-bedroom home was called into service when no other site in Barrow was available.

“This is a totally new horizon for me; we were just interested in making sure that it happened,” said Paula Boyea, who made homemade sugar and oatmeal cookies for the event. “Hopefully other people will do the same in the other North Slope villages after this.”

Presidential races have typically rendered Alaska to an irrelevant state. That’s changing this year for states such as Alaska, those with smaller delegate representation.

Alaska’s Super Tuesday results are not the final word on the party’s candidate choice, but rather a first step toward choosing delegates for this summer’s national conventions.

Two factors make Alaska relevant this time: extremely tight presidential races in both political parties; and federal corruption investigations into U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens and House Rep. Don Young.

The latter item remains secondary to caucuses, but it’s stirred Democrats’ hope rarely seen in a staunchly Republican state such as Alaska. It also has the GOP saying, not so fast, folks.

“In tight contests like these any state could be decisive,” said John Pitney, a former researcher at the Republican National Committee who teaches government at Claremont McKenna College. “The fight for Republicans is to tamp down the Democratic gain with somebody who can prevent the big down draft.”

The state is broken up into 40 House districts, but the similarities between the two parties’ methods pretty much stop there.

For Democratic candidates, 18 national convention delegates are at stake. Alaska Democrats first send 411 delegates to its state convention in May, then elect its national delegates.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 6th, 2008 at 1:02 am and is filed under Alaska, Barack Obama, Super Tuesday. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.