Last Tuesday, D.C.-area voters lined up at the polls to cast their votes in a presidential primary that has generated more local interest than residents have seen in years.

The Super Tuesday presidential primaries, held on Feb. 5, did not have their usual decisive effect but rather narrowed the margin between Democratic front-runners Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.). Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) remains decisively in the GOP lead, but former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee is still in the running.

Obama’s delegate total reached 847 after Super Tuesday, giving him a slight edge over Clinton’s 834 going in to the D.C., Virginia and Maryland primaries, according to NBC News.

According to The New York Times, Obama won 75 percent of the Democratic vote in the District, 59 percent of the vote in Maryland and 63 percent of the vote in Virginia. McCain won 67 percent of the vote in the District, 55 percent in Maryland and 50 percent in Virginia.

Obama has secured 1,223 delegates compared to Clinton’s 1,198, according to the Associated Press. A total of 2,025 are required to win the Democratic nomination.

At present, McCain has 821 delegates, while Huckabee has 241. A total of 1,191 delegates are required to win the Republican nomination.

Obama campaign worker Justin Charity (COL ’09) said the Potomac primaries may be among the most important primaries in the 2008 election.

“Interestingly enough, Virginia and Maryland will probably end up having more of a say than Iowa or New Hampshire for the Democrats [in this election],” he said.

Joseph Hill (COL ’10), Students for Barack Obama’s former organizer of field outreach for the Mid-Atlantic, said he saw the close margin in the Democratic primaries after Super Tuesday change voters’ attitudes in this week’s elections.

“It’s great to see a lot of other states getting involved in the whole primary process,” he said. “A lot of people thought that the race would be over after Super Tuesday, but now we’re seeing a lot of [new] people who are able to voice their opinion on who the nominee’s going to be.”

There was speculation that some District residents would be discouraged from voting because D.C. does not have a vote in the Senate.

But at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts polling station, the closest to Georgetown University, some long-time residents said the turnout this year was larger than in previous elections.

Poll workers at Duke Ellington said the station had seen a relatively high voter turnout, with 618 votes cast by 3:00 p.m. and an expected 1,000 votes by the end of the day.

“I’m thrilled by the turnout here,” said Georgetown resident Stephany Knight.

“I do feel like voting in D.C.; my vote doesn’t count as much, but I’ve never not voted in an election. The candidates are talking to us [because of the Super Tuesday results] and they feel it’s important so that’s good,” said Pat Lonardo, 58.

– Hoya Staff Writer Meghan Keneally contributed to this report.

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