The Democratic Kansas caucuses brought major crowds to Roeland Park Sports Dome on Saturday.
How many was expected? Up to 1,500 democratic voters to caucus for Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Actual turnout? North of 3,000 democratic voters, far surpassing expectations and dome capacity. The line out the doors of the dome spanned at least 10 blocks and 2.5 hours long at one point.
“It cuts right across the demographics. We have young voters. We have middle aged voters. We have elderly voters. It’s pretty well an even split amongst,” said Kansas 3rd congressional district Democratic Party chairman Andy Sandler.
Part 2 of line - between 2500-3000 people. pic.twitter.com/dckVOySrqG
— Brian Abel (@BrianAbelTV) March 5, 2016
Party officials call an audible
The caucus was not going to begin until everyone in line was inside the Roeland Park Dome. When that 3:30 p.m. scheduled start time came and went, the line to get in forced officials to change the game plan.
“We would have been here until midnight,” said Sandler.
Roeland Park Complex overwhelmed w/ JoCo democratic voters. Instead of standard caucus, now voters declaring who they want and leaving. 1/2
— Brian Abel (@BrianAbelTV) March 5, 2016
2/2 ... This is because capacity hit, still LONG line to start. "We would've been here till midnight" - Dem Party chair. #KSCaucus
— Brian Abel (@BrianAbelTV) March 5, 2016
So instead of caucusing, everyone that was inside the dome put their name on a Hillary or Bernie list and was allowed to leave. The plan was approved by both Clinton and Sanders campaigns. The last 50 people in line finished voting before 7 p.m.
Why were they choosing Clinton or Sanders?
“Sanders has consistently fought for minorities, for the younger generations, and for the older generations. He takes everyone’s well-being into account and bases decisions off of that and I really appreciate that about him as a politician,” said 17-year-old Bennett Lawrence.
Caucus-ers (real word?) still getting processed at Roeland Park.Line = 10 blocks long according to Dem Party chair pic.twitter.com/2u5KcmtqkO
— Brian Abel (@BrianAbelTV) March 5, 2016
“The fact that he [Sanders] doesn't take money from corporations and all that really makes it feel like we can trust the guy,” said Juliana Gogol.
“I believe she [Clinton] is the candidate who if elected, when she is elected, will be able to actually get something done with the current makeup of the congress,” Philip Meltzer.
“I think she’s more qualified and quite frankly I’d like to see what a woman would do,” Marine Corps veteran Tom Hyde.
Did candidate’s visits to the metro make a difference?
"I don’t think that makes any difference. It’s not about her supporting Kansas, it’s about her supporting the United States,” said Meltzer.
“I know what she can do, what she can’t do. Her daughter has been here and I think Bill’s been here. I’m not sure but I think she’ll do fine even if she didn't show up. That’s ok,” said Hyde.
What were caucus goers saying about the Republican party?
“I really appreciate the importance of this election. The republican side being as volatile as it is at this point with the two front runners being very conservative. I think it’s great that everyone on the republican side is turning up to vote, which is so important for a democratic election,” said Lawrence.
“It’s kind of unnerving that Trump does have such a large following and he does have a legitimate chance of winning the republican nomination, so that’s part of the reason why we all came out today, not just because we support Bernie but we wanted to go against that,” said 17-year-old Lily Wulfmeyer, who will be 18 before the general election.
“The other side of the aisle is so laughable right not that I can’t even believe,” said Mike Paxton. “Let’s put it this way, 30 to 40 years ago those people would have been so far to the lunatic fringe that they might have been arrested for being insane. I’ll stick with the democrats.”
Line for Roeland Park dem caucus before registration from 1-3. Voting starts at 3:30 pic.twitter.com/l4s1lPigii
— Brian Abel (@BrianAbelTV) March 5, 2016
-------
Brian Abel can be reached at brian.abel@kshb.com.
