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Wednesday
February 23, 2000
cCaN
takes
ch gan
Tight race leads
j.o record turnout
in Michigan, A2
By Jeremy W. Peters
Daily Staff Reporter
State officials expecting an unusually high voter turnout
for yesterday's Michigan Republican primary found their
predictions were right on target, and Ann Arbor proved to
no exception as an elevated number of voters visited
polls on and near campus.
Out of 224,582 registered voters in Ann Arbor, 41,224
ballots - about 18 percent - cast ballots in polling sites
around the city. More than 1.2 million of the 6.3 million
Michigan voters participated in the primary yesterday, top-
ping Secretary of State Candice Miller's prediction that
950,000 people would vote.
When polls closed statewide at 8 p.m., Ann Arbor
precincts reported more than double the turnout of past
presidential primaries.
Marshall Franke, a city election official since 1988, said
polling site at the Michigan Union saw an unusually
high voter turnout yesterday.
"Compared to last time, I'd say we've seen about twice as
many people come in today' Franke said.
Those who voted in Ann Arbor yesterday overwhelming-
ly supported Arizona Sen. John McCain.
Rackham student Keenan Dworak-Fisher said although
he typically votes a Democratic ticket, he cast a ballot for
McCain. "I prefer McCain to (Vice President Al) Gore. He
seems like someone who is a leader and has an aura of dig-
and integrity," he said.
While many voters, including Texas Gov. George W.
Bush supporters and political analysts alike, predicted
Democrats would raid the primary in order to ensure a Bush
defeat and humiliate his loyal supporter Gov. John Engler,
Dworak-Fisher said his vote for McCain was sincere.
But Dworak-Fisher's wife Shelly said she voted for
McCain only because she thought it would hurt Bush.
"I didn't vote for him because I wanted him to be presi-
dent at all. I don't agree with McCain on a lot of issues and
See VOTERS, Page 7
Senator rides
Democratic
-i votes to win
By Yael Kohen
and Hanna LoPatin
Daily Staff Reporters
NOVI - Arizona Sen. John McCain
triumphed over Texas Gov. George W
Bush in the make-or-break Michigan
Republican primary yesterday, largely
due to an outpouring of Democratic
votes, and ran away with a victory in
his home state.
As word of McCain's
upset victory found its
way into the Novi Hilton
ballroom, the senator's
supporters erupted into
wildly enthusiastic
cheers, while Bush cam-
paign officials who were
planning a victory party
in Southfield did not
officially concede to
McCain.
"We pulled off one
rI
Election
John McCain
George W. Bust
Alan Keyes
With 97 percent of p
of the great
state's GOP leadership, who pledged
their support to Bush early in the race.
Engler "ran into a dynamic that he
didn't expect - a tremendous outpour-
ing of support for McCain," said state
Sen. John Schwarz (R-Battle Creek),
McCain's state campaign chair.
With 79 percent of precincts report-
ing in Arizona, McCain took that state
by a 60 percent to 36 percent margin
over Bush.
In Michigan's open
Sprimary, exit polls
showed that McCain
won only 29 percent of
}F Republican votes.
"It was a Republican
primary and it appears
returns the Republicans were
50% not a majority in their
h 43% own primary," Engler
5% said in Southfield.
recincts reporting Bush left Michigan
yesterday evening and spoke in Kansas
City, Mo., on his way to California.
"This is a marathon and I'm going to
be in it all the way to the end - and
some primaries you win and sometimes
you don't," Bush told The Associated
Press.
State Rep. LaMar Lemmons (D-
Detroit) had openly encouraged
Democrats to vote for McCain to stop
the political machine backing Bush.
See PRIMARY, Page 7
upsets in political history," McCain said
via telephone from a victory party in
Phoenix. "My deepest appreciation and
sincere thanks to those who defeated
the odds, the political machine, and
won their government back - and
that's what I'm going to give to them."
McCain's 50 percent to 43 percent
win over Bush in Michigan came
despite efforts from Michigan Gov.
John Engler and the majority of the
Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain and wife Cindy raise light sabers, likening their
campaign struggle to that of Star Wars hero Luke Skywalker, at a victory rally in Phoenix after McCain
triumphed in the Michigan and Arizona primaries last night.
Engler mae
fails to deliver
DAVID ROCHKIND/Daiy
+v. John Engler, Texas Gov. George W. Bush's state campaign chairman, speaks
at a rally at the Westin Hotel in Southfield last night.
By Jeremy W. Peters
Daily Staff Reporter
John McCain needed to win yester-
day's Michigan and Arizona Republi-
can primaries - his survival depended
on it. No one expected the Arizona
senator would have a hard time win-
ning his own state, but Michigan,
political analysts said, was a challenge
he could not con-
quer . "Engler loc
Michigan was
not an easy battle He 's got
for McCain. Thel
majority of the his face."
state's Republican
party supports
Bush, including Inside Mic
Gov. John Engler
and U.S. Sen. Spencer Abraham.
Now, according to political analysts,
Engler may have found himself in a bit
of an awkward situation.
"Engler looks terrible. He's got egg
all over his face," said Bill Ballenger,
editor of Inside Michigan.Politics.
D)
r
I
chi
Much has been made of the poten-
tial for Michigan voters with anti-
Engler sentiments to cast votes for
McCain just to spite Engler. But
according to Ballenger, Republicans
cannot ignore the fact that McCain has
defeated Bush in two critical states,
New Hampshire and now Michigan.
"To George W. Bush, yes, this is an
embarrassing defeat. But the problem
is not so much
ks terrible. Bush's as it is
the Republican
g all over Party's," Bal-
lenger said.
"It appears to
me that they are
- Bill Ballenger stuck with a
igan Politics editor turkey ... an
empty suit. They
have invested so much in Bush and
they've got to be having that feeling in
the pits of their stomachs that they are
stuck with a loser," he added.
With his victory in Michigan,
McCain finds himself in a position
See ENGLER, Page 7
Southfield resident Jim Hardin cheers for Sen. John McCain's Michigan primary
victory last night at the Novi Hilton Hotel.
High gasoline pnces
fuel driver frustration _
0 OPEC production cuts,
rising demand ignites gas
price increase
By Eddie Ahn
For the Daily
Gritting their teeth as they make pit
tops at local gas stations, drivers across
the nation are alarmed as they see the cost
to refill their tanks continue to rise.
Drivers can now expect to pay upwards
of $1.75 for a gallon of gasoline each time
they pull up to the pump.
"I would appreciate a decrease in gas
fuming.
"Some customers have complained that
the prices are too high ... and I think so
too;" said Sierra Simmons, an attendant at
Brewer's North Campus Sunoco station.
Frustrated consumers said they were
unaware of why gas prices are increas-
ing.
North American College Painters
recruiter Paul Evans, who drives 100 to
200 miles a day, said he does not
"understand why gas prices keep going
up.
The cause of this price increase is tied to
the economic principles of supply and
demand.
MSA discusses
possible recall
of MAC chair
By Lisa Kolvu
Daily Staff Reporter
In a lively but short Michigan Student Assembly meeting
last night, members addressed recalling Minority Affairs
Commission co-Chairwoman Erika Dowdell, who last week
announced her decision to file a lawsuit against the senior
honor society Michigamua.
Dowdell expressed her displeasure with assembly
members discussing whether the assembly should
recall her chair because she filed a complaint with the
Michigan Civil Rights Commission against the secret
society for its failure to abide by a contract from 1989
to clear all Native American artifacts out of the tower
office.
"MSA does not have the power to recall me becausie thev
SAM HOLLENSADU/D aly
Motorist Bob Kay keeps his eye on the price as he fills up his car at the Amoco station
located on S. Main and W. William streets yesterday.
I