On the first ballot Tuesday morning, Romney was the leading vote getter, with 40.9 percent of the vote. Huckabee was second, with 33.1 percent. McCain had 15.5 percent, and longtime Texas Rep. Ron Paul had 10.4 percent.
Under the convention rules, the candidate with the fewest votes was knocked off the ballot, so that eliminated Paul.
A candidate needed 50 percent of the ballots cast to get the 18 delegates to the Republican National Convention.
Huckabee won on the second ballot, after supporters of U.S. Sen. John McCain switched their votes to him. That gave Huckabee 557 votes to 522 for former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney on the second ballot. McCain had 10 votes.
"The best scenario for the McCain campaign was to not have a Romney victory here today," said Gary Abernathy, a McCain supporter and former state Republican Party director.
The delegate switch didn't sit well with Romney supporters. "These are the juvenile actions of a morally bankrupt campaign," said John McCutcheon of the Phillips Group, which supported Romney's campaign in the state.
McCain's actions here are somewhat understandable, but what's up with Huckabee? He knows he won't win the nomination, so what does he have to gain if he actively works with McCain? A VP spot...? A cabinet position...?
Something seems fishy here...
There's my two cents.
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