This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2008, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Posted: 11:31 PM- Betting against Mitt Romney in Utah was something akin to betting the mortgage against the Harlem Globetrotters.
But the victory by Democratic Sen. Barack Obama, and the margin by which he defeated Sen. Hillary Clinton, was a remarkable achievement.
"A year ago no one would have believed this," said Obama supporter Mike Picardi, 56, wearing an "Obama '08" T-shirt, who gathered with dozens of supporters at a downtown Salt Lake City sports bar and cheered loudly when networks awarded the state to the Illinois senator. "This is amazing."
With 95 percent of the precincts reporting, Obama was leading Clinton by a margin of 56 percent to 40 percent.
On the Republican side, Romney triumphed in a landslide, winning 89 percent of the vote to 6 percent for Arizona Sen. John McCain.
Romney, a Mormon like more than 60 percent of Utah residents, had been expected to win big in Utah.
"The three places I have lived have all voted for us - Michigan, Massachusetts and Utah," Romney said in a televised speech.
Voter turnout was strong across the state, with about 30 percent of the registered voters expected to cast ballots, said Joseph Demma, chief of staff to Lt. Gov. Gary Herbert, the state's top elections official.
That is about on par with the turnout in last November's hotly contested voucher referendum and more than three times the turnout of the 2000 presidential primary, the last time both parties picked a candidate.
Projections were even higher in Salt Lake County, where turnout was on pace to hit about 40 percent.
"We're totally excited about the interest we're seeing in this election," Demma said.
The suspense in Utah's primary was found on the Democratic side, as Obama and Clinton vied for a share of the state's 29 delegates.
Obama opened three offices in Utah, including one in the southern part of the state. He came to Utah last August and planned to return last week, canceling the visit when it conflicted with funeral services for LDS Church President Gordon B. Hinckley. His wife, Michelle Obama, held a rally in Salt Lake City on Monday.
Clinton never came to Utah, but her husband, former President Clinton, held a sold-out fundraiser in November, and her daughter, Chelsea Clinton, spoke at the University of Utah last month.
About a dozen Clinton supporters gathered at the downtown bar, Port O' Call. Seven tables with untouched appetizers sat empty.
"If [Obama] is the winner in Utah, he did put in more resources," had more staff and a late boost from the Michelle Obama, said Donald Dunn, Clinton's Utah representative and former party chairman. "We're proud of the effort we had in Utah. The message Hillary had resonates in Utah."
Devon Brown, a West High School junior, won't be able to vote for Obama but he's been volunteering for the campaign for months.
"I complained about the Bush administration but I hadn't done anything about it," said Brown, who got his dad to vote for Obama. "I liked that we made a difference."
If Romney, the head of the 2002 Winter Olympics and possibly the world's most prominent Mormon, was not Utah's native son, he was the one Utah Republicans were eager to adopt.
"I am really encouraged by the way things are looking for my dad right now," Romney's son, Josh Romney, told scores of people who gathered at Romney Utah headquarters, chanting "Mitt! Mitt! Mitt!"
"The conservative movement is going to coalesce around my dad and make sure he's the nominee for the Republican party," Josh Romney said. "We're going to win this thing."
Utahns also opened their wallets. Romney tapped the state for an astounding $5.2 million in campaign contributions during repeated stops to the state. His Republican opponents put up little fight.
Kacy Moller of Lehi attended the Romney celebration with her husband and two young daughters.
"The last couple of weeks, after he lost Florida, we've just been sending prayers in his favor," said Moller, who supports Romney's family values stance, but recognized the increasingly long odds Romney is facing nationally. "If this is it, we want to show our support."
It was the first time Utah held its presidential primary so early in the process, moving it up to Feb. 5 - the earliest date the parties would allow - in hopes that it would force White House hopefuls to pay attention to the state. The change cost the state $3.4 million.
Most of the top-tier candidates visited Utah, including Romney, McCain and Obama.
"For us, it's created an excitement that I don't think we've seen . . . since the '60s," said Wayne Holland, chairman of the Utah Democratic Party. "A lot of that has been based on this phenomenon we call Obama."
-- Rosemary Winters and Jennifer Sanchez contributed to this report.