Record York County turnout expected Saturday in SC Republican primary

Fueled by the insurgency of billionaire newcomer Donald Trump, York County Republicans are expecting to vote in record numbers Saturday in a primary that will smash 2012 totals by as much as 25 percent.

“We could have as many as 45,000 people voting Saturday - a huge number,” said Wes Climer, York County Republican Party chairman. “We have six great candidates and people are excited to be a part of this historic election.”

Statewide, Republicans expect a record of 680.000 to 700,00 voters, up from just over 600,000 in 2012, said Brandon Newton, Lancaster County Republican Party chairman.

York County’s huge population increase over the past decade to almost a quarter-million people is also part of the influx of new voters.

In the 2012 primary, York County Republicans saw almost 32,000 votes cast, but even the most conservative estimates among party officials show an increase to about 40,000 Saturday. But interest is an an all time-high, Climer said.

Trump’s candidacy “absolutely” is part of the excitement, Climer said, but the field has six strong candidates and York County Republicans are in different numbers behind all six.

“We also have two sitting senators, one sitting governor and a former governor whose father and brother were president,” Climer said. “And we have a brilliant physician. This is the strongest field the party has ever had.”

Another reason that high turnout is expected is weather. Voter turnout generally is higher on good weather days and Saturday is expected to be warm and nice. In 2008, for example, winter weather dampened turnout across the Upstate.

Political and elections officials in Lancaster and Chester counties also expect potentially the largest ever turnouts for Republican primaries. Northern Lancaster County has added thousands of voters in recent years in heavily Republican Indian Land. Lancaster expects an increase of at least 10 percent over 2012, said Newton the party chairman.

Drew Johnson, Republican Party executive committeman from Chester, said that while Chester County has not added population, it has seen some shifting toward Republicans and the party expects a large turnout. In the last statewide election in 2014, Chester County voted Republican for all statewide offices for the first time since the Civil War, Johnson said.

This story was originally published February 19, 2016 at 11:10 AM with the headline "Record York County turnout expected Saturday in SC Republican primary."