Local precincts vote mostly Republican

The Sisters School District Local Option levy failed by 26 votes out of 4,656 cast in the election that ended on November 4. Most of the "No" votes came from the rural area east of Sisters around Cloverdale in Precinct 14, and from Precinct 15, the subdivisions to the north of Sisters out Indian Ford and Wilt roads.

Precinct 14 voted the levy down by 126 votes, 670 to 541, or 55.3 percent "No" to 44.7 percent in favor.

Precinct 15 voted the levy down by 28 votes, 463 to 435, or 51.6 percent "No" to 48.4 percent in favor.

The other three precincts approved the levy, but not by enough to swing the margin. Precinct 30, inside the City of Sisters, voted in favor 514 to 402, a margin of 112 votes, 56.1 percent in favor to 43.9 percent voting "No."

Precinct 45, which includes most of the subdivisions immediately surrounding Sisters including Tollgate and Crossroads, voted in favor by only 12 votes, 684 to 672, or 50.4 percent in favor to 49.6 percent voting "No."

Precinct 51, comprised of Black Butte Ranch, voted in favor of the levy 140 to 131, or nine votes, 51.7 percent in favor against 48.3 percent "No."

Republicans outnumber Democrats in every precinct as a percentage of ballots cast. The difference was smallest in the City of Sisters, where 35.4 percent of the registered voters are Democrat, 37.7 percent are Republican, and nearly 24 percent are either "Independent" or "Not affiliated."

The difference between Democrats and Republicans is greatest in Precinct 15 to the north, with about 31 percent registered as "Democrat," 46.5 percent as "Republican, and about 20 percent as "Independent" or "Not Affiliated."

The election between Barack Obama and John McCain went to McCain in every district in the Sisters area except Black Butte Ranch, where Obama won 51.6 percent to 46.6 percent. Even within the City of Sisters, McCain took 49.9 percent of the vote, against Obama's 46.5 percent.

In the more rural areas the margin was even larger, with McCain scoring 55.4 percent in Cloverdale and 55.2 percent north of Sisters, and 49.5 percent in Precinct 45 that includes Tollgate and Crossroads.

Gordon Smith, who lost his U.S. Senate seat to Jeff Merkley, was strongly favored in every Sisters area voting district with over 60 percent in every district except the city, where Smith was still favored by nearly 59 percent of the voters.

State Treasurer-elect Ben Westlund did better than fellow Democrat Merkley in the Sisters community, but though he won the statewide vote, he won just two out of the five local districts. Westlund carried Precinct 30, the City of Sisters, 449 to 430 for Alan Alley, and Westlund beat Alley 664 to 644 in Precinct 45.

Alley carried Cloverdale with nearly 56 percent and 53.3 percent in Precinct 15 to the North of Sisters.