Butler County Republican voters showed strong support for Donald Trump at Saturday’s Republican caucus. In total, 115 voters attended the event. The former president carried 108 votes while Nikki Haley had five. David Stuckenberg, the only other primary challenger, received no votes at all. According to Joe Leahy, chair of the Butler County Republican Central Committee, two voters abandoned the caucus after discovering they could not simply cast a ballot.
Leahy hoped to see a larger turnout. After the State Legislature cut funding for primaries, the Missouri Republican party moved to a caucus system for the first time since 2012. Rep. Hardy Billington spoke at the event, in which Steve Whitworth nominated Trump. Leahy and Matt Whitworth were elected as chair and secretary of the caucus respectively.
“I think it went really well,” Leahy said. While there was a learning curve for participants in the unfamiliar system, he applauded voters’ willingness to adapt. Leahy hoped to see a return to the preferential primary system but maintained the event’s smooth execution.
The delegates from Butler County will go on to cast their votes in the April 4 state and April 6 congressional conventions. Missouri will send 51 delegates to the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin for a final tally in July.