Cruz in early lead in Kootenai County

Kootenai County is Cruz country.

Ted Cruz was leading among Republican presidential candidates in Kootenai County at press time on Tuesday night during the presidential primary.

As of 10:30 p.m., with 50 of 75 precincts counted, the Texas senator had 7,407 votes (51 percent). Businessman Donald Trump had 4,286 votes (30 percent), followed by Florida Sen. Marco Rubio with 1,319 votes (9 percent) and Ohio Gov. John Kasich with 976 votes (7 percent).

Meanwhile, voters in Rathdrum, Spirit Lake and Garwood also had a $5.3 million Lakeland Joint School District supplemental levy on their ballot. At press time, 1,386 votes (52 percent) were in support of the proposal and 1,285 against.

A vote of at least 50 percent, plus one, was needed for the proposal to pass.

Cruz supporters at a gathering at The Fedora Pub and Grille in Coeur d'Alene said they were not surprised their candidate was leading in Kootenai County and was declared the winner in Idaho around 9 p.m.

A Cruz rally was held at the Kootenai County Fairgrounds on Saturday. That event — not to mention that Kootenai County is conservative — helped the candidate, supporters said.

"Ted Cruz knows that Idaho is not flyover country," said Ann Seddon, who lives south of Coeur d'Alene. "Ted Cruz knows the West. He has western values."

Lora Gervais said the personal touch goes a long way toward resonating with the voters.

"Sen. Ted Cruz looked people square in the eyes," she said. "That means a lot to people."

Rathdrum's Tim Kastning said he believes Cruz represents conservative values the best of the candidates.

"Idaho is a conservative state, and it is going to pick the best conservative for the presidency," he said. "Ted Cruz is definitely the best choice for the conservative vote. He will fight against the establishment in Washington. He's not a Washington politician. I really feel this nation is in a crossroads, and we need a conservative as president to deal with the problems that the nation is facing."

Kastning said he believes Trump has a lack of policy understanding.

"It appears that trying to win the presidency is a reality show to him," he said.

Garwood's Don Bradway said he is confident in Cruz because he is not a deal-maker.

"Ted Cruz is really the candidate who we need to have," Bradway said. "He has stood firm over the years."

At prestige, Scott Copeland had 18 votes for the Constitution Party's nomination for president, while Patrick Ockander had nine and J.R. Myers five.

The Lakeland school levy would increase the current levy by $505,000.

Brad Murray, Lakeland's school superintendent, said he had a good feeling the levy would pass heading into Tuesday's vote.

"We went to so many groups and received all sorts of positive feedback and very limited negative feedback," he said.

Murray said said he remained hopeful that the levy would pass late Tuesday.

"I'm holding out great hope," he said.

Lakeland's levy in 2014 passed with 69 percent approval and 1,239 votes cast.

Passage of the new levy would allow the district to maintain neighborhood schools with the same grade-level alignment and course offerings, district officials said. It will also help offset decreases in federal funding that support special education and Title programs.

For the owner of a $150,000 home, the levy increase amounts to $12.33 per year, or $1.03 per month, over the current levy.

The increase would be used to improve school safety measures, including hiring a school resource officer in partnership with the city of Rathdrum and the Kootenai County Sheriff's Office, reinforcing windows with safety film, enhancing existing emergency response systems and improving student health and safety services, which includes athletic trainers for competitive high school sports.

The deadline for voters to change their party affiliation or become unaffiliated for the May 17 primary election featuring county and state races is Friday.

Democrats will make their choice for their party's presidential nomination during a caucus on March 22 at North Idaho College's Schuler Performing Arts Center. Doors open at 4:30 p.m. and close at 6 p.m.

The Democratic and Libertarian parties didn't hold a presidential primary.

Any person who is a Democrat and a qualified voter of Kootenai County and who has not participated in any other presidential selection process, may participate in the caucus. The meeting is open to the public.

Local Democrats will send 37 delegates to the state convention June 16-18 in Boise.

Representatives of each sub-caucus will speak about their presidential candidates of choice before a final count will be taken.

The Idaho Democratic Party will send 24 delegates and two alternatives to the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia July 25-28 to nominate the Democratic candidate for president.

For more information about the Democratic caucus, call 755-9590, email kootenaicountydemocrats@gmail.com or visit idahodems.org.