Howard Dean built his victory in the D.C. primary on the strength of his popularity among voters in white sections of Washington and lost to Al Sharpton in predominantly black neighborhoods, an analysis of precinct results shows.
Dean touted his primary win as evidence of his appeal to black voters, but his margin of victory came almost entirely from a 10-to-1 edge over Sharpton in mostly white Ward 3 in affluent Northwest Washington. In the city's seven other wards, taken together, the two ran almost evenly.
Heavy turnout in Ward 3 helped Dean. More than 19 percent of eligible voters in Ward 3 cast a ballot, compared with a citywide average of 16 percent. The Ward 3 turnout was more than double the turnout in Southeast Washington's Ward 8, which is almost entirely African American and which gave Sharpton his best results. Sharpton beat Dean in Ward 8 by 59 percent to 24 percent. [...]
[...] University of Maryland political science professor Ronald W. Walters, who studies voting patterns among blacks, said Dean assembled a coalition of white liberals and middle-class or upper-middle-class African Americans for the D.C. primary.
He said that in general, black voters remain uncertain about Dean.
"If this is a test, it means the black vote is not quite totally sold on him," Walters said.
Blacks account for 60 percent of the city's residents, and whites make up 31 percent, according to the 2000 Census. But in recent years political analysts have reported a surge in white turnout and a decline in voting among African Americans.
Dean's tally citywide was 43 percent, compared with Sharpton's 34 percent. Former senator Carol Moseley Braun of Illinois, who dropped out of the race yesterday, came in third, with 12 percent. Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich of Ohio came in fourth, with 8 percent.
Dean won Wards 1, 2, 3 and 6, which are, by percentage, the wards with the largest white populations, according census numbers.
Sharpton won Wards 4, 5, 7 and 8, which have the city's largest black populations. Sharpton's margin was more than 20 percentage points in Wards 5 and 7, which are largely middle class.
| That's the majority of Craig Timberg's Washington Post article "D.C.'s White Voters, Not Black, Made Difference for Dean"
posted in articles on January 16, 2004 12:25 AM | t (0)
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