# Texas Federal Prisoner gets 40% of vote in WV Dem Primary **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [May 9, 2012, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-federal-prisoner-gets-40-of-vote-in-wv-dem-primary/621387 "2012-05-09T13:22:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![lance\_strongarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/87869e/32.png) [@lance\_strongarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lance_strongarm)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2012, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-federal-prisoner-gets-40-of-vote-in-wv-dem-primary/621387/81 "2012-07-19T17:25:06Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > At this stage of the game, most people think a one-legged leper would be a better President that Obama. Not most people. [http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544\_162-57475178-503544/obama-romney-in-dead-heat-in-presidential-race/](http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-57475178-503544/obama-romney-in-dead-heat-in-presidential-race/) ---
**Author:** ![ScarletNumber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@ScarletNumber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ScarletNumber)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2012, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-federal-prisoner-gets-40-of-vote-in-wv-dem-primary/621387/82 "2012-07-19T17:39:16Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Scarlet, if you’re this desperate for a victory, who am I to deny it to you? Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![ScarletNumber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@ScarletNumber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ScarletNumber)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2012, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-federal-prisoner-gets-40-of-vote-in-wv-dem-primary/621387/83 "2012-07-19T17:41:44Z")
> [@CandidGamera](#): > > To be pedantic, in the spirit of the Straight Dope : Sez you. > > Er, I mean : Cite? > > Unless you’re a mind-reader, I reject your implicit assumption that 40% of the voters in the Democratic primary went \*\*knowingly \*\*for a convicted felon as a protest vote. And unless they did so knowingly, then LHoD’s characterization of them as stupid assholes (perhaps it should be \*ignorant \*assholes, though) is correct. This isn’t GQ. ---
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2012, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-federal-prisoner-gets-40-of-vote-in-wv-dem-primary/621387/84 "2012-07-20T12:47:02Z")
> [@ScarletNumber](#): > > This isn’t GQ. Nor is it the “make shit up” forum. When come back, bring facts. ---
**Author:** ![goonhead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ebca7d/32.png) [@goonhead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/goonhead)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2012, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-federal-prisoner-gets-40-of-vote-in-wv-dem-primary/621387/85 "2012-07-21T00:52:19Z")
I would attribute the odd election results to people casting an “anyone but Obama” vote who were also registered as democrats to vote for local and state races. I think there are still a lot of local office holders who are nominally democrats but are more conservative than Obama but perhaps still to the left of most republicans. The results aren’t really any threat to Obama being re-nominated. The West Virginia department of elections said Keith Judd didn’t file any delegates, so even though he got a significant chunk of the vote, he’ll get few if any votes at the democratic convention. Interestingly, this was not Obama’s worst showing in a state primary. He got 57% of the vote in Oklahoma, with four minor candidates splitting the remaining 43%. Like WV, Oklahoma still has many local and state officials who are conservative democrats, and like WV, Obama still ended up winning the vast majority of Oklahoma’s delegates. This would probably only have spelled trouble for Obama if he were consistently winning 50-60% of lots of primary states against a well organized challenger who had lined up slates of possible delegates (see Reagan campaign, 1976). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-federal-prisoner-gets-40-of-vote-in-wv-dem-primary/621387.md?page=4)