Following the rainy, not-so-high turnout Presidential Preference Primary on Feb. 6, Boulder City Republicans gathered at the Boulder Dam Hotel on Thursday for their competing caucus where actual delegates to the GOP National Convention in July were awarded.
According to Jennifer Tuggle, president of the Boulder City Republican Women’s group, the onslaught of caucus-goers came as something of a surprise.
“Approximately 1,000 Republican voters were in line to cast their vote. EVERY vote was counted,” she said in a text message. “The mass turnout in BC was not expected and the BC Republican women worked very hard to accommodate everyone.”
To say that the crowd of supporters of former president Donald Trump were enthusiastic is an understatement. Every one of the people who agreed to speak to the Boulder City Review were not only standing in line to get in a full hour before the event began, all of them had also taken the time to vote in the primary.
No, their preferred candidate was not running in the primary. They took the time to go to a polling place just to vote for the “None of These Candidates” option.
Tracey Wolpert was one of those in line. When asked if she voted for the None of These Candidates option, she replied, “Of course.”
A supporter of former President Trump, like everyone else in line, she said she had not had a great deal of difficulty navigating the competing primary and caucus but was not sure that was the case for everyone.
“It was a little bit confusing,” she said. “But if you took the time to cross the T’s and I’s and follow the the dots down you could find the information. But I don’t think it was readily available for the average person who doesn’t spend that much time looking into this kind of thing.”
She has high hopes for a potential second term for the former president. When asked what she thought he would be able to accomplish, she answered, “I think he’s gonna drain the swamp, baby. There’s a lot of corruption and evil going on in D.C. and it’s been going on for a long time —both sides, Republicans and Democrats. It’s pretty much a cesspool there and they all just work together to keep themselves in power. They’re all millionaires and they started out with basically nothing. It’s full of fraud and I think he is going to clean house and get us back on the right track.”
Jame Moore also voted in the primary and voted None of These Candidates. He found the whole process of competing primary and caucus confusing and looks forward to a second Trump term where he would “accomplish everything he didn’t accomplish the first term.” When asked for specifics, he said, “I think taxes. I think economy. I think jobs…”
Moore’s companion in line jumped in, “We don’t want communists. We don’t want socialism. I’m an immigrant. I came from a socialist country and I don’t like it and I urge everybody to do their homework.” She identified herself as Sonia Mongili and said she originally came to the U.S. 23 years ago as an immigrant from Florence, Italy. “One of the most beautiful countries,” she said. “Crooked, corrupted and socialist. Don’t you think I would have liked to have stayed in my country with my own family, speaking my own language and eating pasta all day? I can’t.”
Sporting a long, gray beard and wrap-around sunglasses, Trump caucus captain Ace Hunt said he did not find the primary versus caucus issue confusing.
“The reason I do not find it confusing is because I’m educated and I understand that the Nevada Legislature decided to waste $5 million of taxpayer money for no good reason,” he said.
Hunt said he got involved in the caucus late in the process and still was at “180% of goal” in terms of getting fellow Boulder City residents to commit to caucus for the former president. He had specific hopes for a second Trump term. “I think if we go back to his energy policies, the economy will turn around. I think if we go back to his national security policies, starting with cleaning up the southern border, the country will be less of a mess in short order.”
Hunt also noted his concerns over national security.
“My stepson did two tours in Afghanistan in the Marines and I believe that national security is important,” he said. “I believe that right now we have none and, quite frankly, that is high on my list.”
When asked about the report from the special counsel investigating President Joe Biden over boxes of classified documents found at his home in Delaware, Hunt said he was aware that the report pointed to Biden’s memory issues as one reason it was decided not to file criminal charges.
“It astonishes me that they are allowing Joe Biden to get a free pass that the Mafia tried to use as being imbeciles when they were looking at being prosecuted in New York City.” (Hunt appeared to be referencing the case of Vincent Gigante, an eventually-convicted organized crime boss who spent years building up an image of himself as mentally incompetent only to later admit that his whole “wandering the streets in a bathrobe and slippers” shtick had been a ruse to avoid prosecution.)
“It shows that there is a two-tiered system of justice,” he said. “Hillary got a free pass. If you listen to what (former FBI chief) James Comey said before he gave her a free pass, she should be sitting in jail. She got a free pass. Joe Biden’s getting a free pass. Donald Trump? Lets see if they can turn thumbscrews on the man. That doesn’t sit well with me.”