(UPDATE: 4:01 p.m. March 26)

A record 3,778 Democrats in Jefferson County caucused today with 135 delegates elected for Sen. Bernie Sanders and 56 elected for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

The Seattle Times also announced that the Associated Press has called the Washington state Democratic presidential caucuses for Sanders.

In Jefferson County, there were 3,228 people who showed up in person to cast votes for their presidential preference and 550 surrogate affidavits, according to Bruce Cowan, chair of the Jefferson County Democrats.

Cowan estimated 16 percent of registered voters in Jefferson County turned out to caucus.

“We were originally planning for fewer than the 2,500 who turned out in Obama’s 2008 run,” Cowan said. “But we could see that the campaigns were getting people motivated to come out. We were getting tons of calls.”

“It was great to see neighbors talking about issues, even when they disagreed about candidates. One of the precincts is planning a barbeque.”

Both the Clinton and Sanders campaigns have been very active on the North Olympic Peninsula, operating phone banks and knocking on doors over the last several weeks. Supporters for both candidates have also held caucus training meetings.

“It was a lot of work, but it was worth it. People certainly showed up for their candidates,” said Quilcene resident Tom Meyer, the Caucus Jurisdiction Coordinator who headed up the organizing committee. “My hat is off to the volunteers. Over a hundred of them took part in trainings, and they’re the ones who really made everything work. ”

ORIGINAL STORY

Democrats in Jefferson County turned out en masse Saturday to caucus and be counted.

With several large precincts still to report as of 3 p.m. Saturday, Cowan said: “It’s more than 2-1 Bernie."

“We broke the 2008 attendance record,” he said. “We have over 3,000 participants and we’re not finished."

Those 3,000 votes included 500 surrogate affidavit votes that were submitted by March 18.

Cowan said several large precincts were caucusing at Grant Street Elementary; those numbers were not included in the 3,000. He said there were estimates of several hundred people attending there, raising the possibility that as many as 3,500 people could have participated – essentially 10 percent of Jefferson County’s population, Cowan noted.

By comparison, there were 142 people who turned out Feb. 20 in Jefferson County to caucus with Jefferson County Republicans.

LINES OUT THE DOOR

At the Port Townsend Community Center, there was a line out the door and people were waiting to sign in for precincts 708 and 701 as the meeting was starting at 10 a.m.

It was initially hard to find any Hillary Clinton supporters among the sea of Bernie Sanders supporters until after people started to turn in their sign-in sheets, indicating their initial candidate preference as well as their final presidential candidate preference.

In the first round of voting, the tally was 62 for Clinton and 189 for Sanders in Precinct 708. In a final round of counting, after speeches were given, Sanders gained four votes.

First to speak on behalf of Sanders after the first round of votes was long-time Democrat Doug Milholland, who asked that only those who were committed to a candidate offer themselves as delegates to the upcoming county convention on May 1.

Milholland offered himself as a candidate and urged Clinton voters to change their minds.

Mike Biskup was one of the few speakers to mention GOP favorite Donald Trump by name.

Biskup said Sanders has a better chance than Clinton of beating Trump in the general election. He also said that while doorbelling for Sanders, he ran into a Trump supporter who also liked Sanders.

Sharon Hoyer urged people to vote for Sanders because his campaign has been one of kindness and compassion; “He’s a real human being with tons of experience …”

Michael Grady said Sanders is the only candidate to mention the idea of world peace.

“I think he’s a conversation-changing president,” Grady said.

While 15 Republicans showed up to caucus at the Port Townsend Community Center Feb. 20, almost 300 in two precincts alone showed up to caucus for Democrats on Saturday. For a brief time, the crowd appeared to almost exceed the 154-maximum capacity of the room.

IN CHIMACUM

In Chimacum, it was hard to find a place to park with 13 of the county’s 39 precincts, including two Port Townsend precincts, meeting in the Chimacum School complex.

The campus parking lot was full, as were lots at the Tri-Area Community Center and along West Valley Road by the sports fields and bus barn.

(The Leader will update this story as more information becomes available)