Democrats in Jefferson and Clallam counties jumped on the John Kerry bandwagon Saturday during 14 precinct caucuses across the North Olympic Peninsula.

It mirrored a statewide showing for the Massachusetts senator, who gained almost half of the state’s delegates in neighborhood causes held across the Evergreen State.

A state party spokeswoman, Kirstin Brost, estimated the statewide turnout for Saturday’s caucuses could top the 100,000 mark for the first time.

In Jefferson and Clallam counties, nearly 3,000 people are estimated to have attended the 14 precinct caucuses, causing party officials to scurry to make room for everyone.

Kerry, a U.S. senator from Massachusetts and front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination, picked up 187 of the North Olympic Peninsula’s possible 411 delegates, or 45.49 percent, from the two counties.

U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Bremerton, said Kerry’s strong showing in Washington seals the presidential nomination.

“I think he’s got the nomination wrapped up and I think the ticket will be a prohibitive favorite in our state in November,” Dicks told The Associated Press.

“Across this state, there was just a tremendous desire for a winner, a feeling that we’ve just go to beat Bush.”

————–

The rest of the story appears in Sunday’s Peninsula Daily News.