Two hours left to vote

It's time for us to take a break. Several members of the newsroom crew are using the break to go out and vote.

The primary in Georgia ends at the top of the hour. Two hours until the polls close in New York... so get out and vote.

Who are you voting for?

- Jecoliah Ellis has been in Webster all day, at a Republican polling place. She says John McCain is the pick of most of the people she's spoke with, but not everyone is happy with the 4 choices.
- Kevin Jolly was at a Democratic polling place in Henrietta, and tells me that more than 150 people have been to the polls, which is more than poll workers expected at this point. So, who are they picking?
- Nice to see we've gotten a handful of replies to the polls on the right side of the page. Let's take it one step further. Why are you voting for these candidates? What appeals to you about them? Is there a candidate who rubs you the wrong way? Go ahead and comment by clicking on the word "Comments" below.

In other election news, Evan Axelbank caught up with longtime Brighton town supervisor Sandy Frankel, who announced today she's running for a State Senate seat. This could set up a showdown with someone else well known to voters in Brighton - Rick Dollinger, who stepped down as Town Justice this morning.

The district is New York's 56th. Joe Robach is the incumbent. In a statement, Robach said it's way too early to think about November, and he will announce his plans when it becomes appropriate.

Super Tuesday surprise; the "Mitt Mobile"

- It's not uncommon to see words painted on the cars of high school students (you'll be seeing that a lot come the Section V basketball tournament). Jecoliah Ellis caught up with Eric Myer, a Geneseo teen who is using his window space to get the word out about Mitt Romney, a candidate who has no organized campaign headquarters in the Rochester area.

- Two Ron Paul supporters were out in Brighton this morning, trying to get their candidate's name out there. Both admit that he's a longshot at this point, but have some interesting things to say about how Paul's campaign has made them rethink their own political stance.

- The Mountaineer State has spoken. Mike Huckabee has won West Virginia's 18 delegates.

First round of turnout numbers

Encouraging news from the Monroe Co. Board of Elections. Voter turnout numbers show interest in the New York Primary from Democrats is much higher than 4 years ago.

Here are the numbers as of 2:30 p.m.:

Democrats:
County - 11.9%
City of Rochester - 11.7%
Towns- 12%

County in 2004 - 4.6%
in 2000 - 5.9%

It looks like there is high interest among local Democrats, and that both campaigns have successfully mobilized registered voters.

Republicans:
County - 8.3%
City - 9.6%
Towns - 8.1%

County in 2000 - 11.1%
(no numbers for 2004)

Why the decrease on the Republican side? In 2000, the Republican primary was a two horse race by this point, between George W. Bush and John McCain. The campaign was much higher profile, and more heated.

Super Tuesday in Rochester: What we're working on

Here's a brief look at what we're working on today.

- Eye on the Vote: We've been asking you what issue is the most important to you. We want your opinion on this question - but that's not all. Who did you vote for? Why? Any problems voting? How was your experience? Share with Rochester your take on any and all things Super Tuesday. We plan on including you as much as possible in our TV coverage tonight.
- Local campaigns: Clinton, Obama, McCain, and Huckabee all have campaigns in Rochester that will be closely watching tonight's results. We'll catch up with all of them. There's no official party tonight locally for Mitt Romney, but we do plan on meeting up with perhaps his biggest supporter in WNY, and who it is may surprise you.
- Polling places: We'll have crews in place at several polling places around Monroe County. What issues are important to primary voters?
- Voter turnout: Both parties have been urging members to get to the polls. Will members respond? Keep in mind, the turnout for the November election was among the worst ever in Monroe County.
- New York's delegates: The Democrat party delegates will be divvied up proportionally within Congressional districts. Time to dust off the scientific calculator. The Republicans make it easy - winner takes all.
- How your county voted: We're actually going to be collecting results from all Upstate counties west of Syracuse. On this blog, we'll figure out who won Monroe, Ontario. Wayne, Livingston, and Orleans County. While the delegates aren't split up by county, it should be interesting.

The polls are now open. They will close in 9 hours.

Breaking down the delegates in NY

On the Democrat side, New York has 232 delegates, the second most of 22 states with Democrat contests today. We're not winner-take-all; delegates are allocated proportionally based on today's results. California, Illinois, and New Jersey are the other states to keep an eye on.

(* winner-take-all)

On the Republican side, New York is one of 9 states that are winner-take-all; the candidate that takes the state gets all of the delegates. With 87 delegates, New York is the largest winner-take-all prize of the night (Missouri is second with 58 delegates - followed by AZ, NJ, CT, UT, WV, MT, and DE, in that order). There are 21 Republican contests today.

Catching up with Curt

Our political analyst, Curt Smith, is an author and former speechwriter for President George H. W. Bush. As always, Curt will be a big part of primary election coverage on News 8 and Fox Rochester. On Monday, we asked him for his pre-Super Tuesday thoughts.

• On Barack Obama: "The Obama surge is real. The surge is a phenomenon. The momentum he has from South Carolina is real... but also the endorsements. I personally feel that anyone the age of a baby boomer or older, the endorsement of Caroline Kennedy, followed by Ted Kennedy, followed by Oprah Winfrey, has made a difference. It's given him a sheen of establishment approval.


• Obama's efforts in New York: "If you look at New York, Mrs. Clinton led him by 3-to-1 not so long ago. It's not entirely possible that he will come within closing distance of her. I can guarantee you if Obama gets 35 to 40% of the vote in New York, he's going to claim an enormous victory. On the Democratic side, this thing is going to go way beyond tomorrow. I would not have said that a month ago, but I think the landscape has changed. I think Democrats want a winner. They want change. The best defense is a good offense, to use a football term. He is playing offense on her turf. She's rebutting and reacting to him. If he picks up anything in New York, that's gravy. It's not something he would have expected."


• How imporant is getting out the vote? - "It's important in the sense that in party primaries, the level of voter participation is far lower than the general election. The most devoted, the most fanatical, the most zealous of party activists, by-in-large, decide who is nominated and who is not. You can win, for example, with 20 to 25% of the vote, whereas in a general election you would need 55 to 60%. It's an enormously different kind of operation, not as exclusive as a caucus, but more inclusive and democratic."


• Who's voting? "By-in-large, these are lifelong party activists, many of them in their 50s and 60s, that have voted Democrat or Republican all of their life, and in many cases they're guided by the decisions of local leaders. It's not necessarily a question of persuading them; it's a question of getting them out, particularly if the weather's bad, and getting them to the polls."


• On Undecideds: "My hunch is that on both sides of the political aisle, people by-in-large now have already made up their mind. Keep in mind that the Iowa caucus was in early January, and people have been running for President since 2004, so folks have had a lot of time to ingest and assimilate information, and therefore make up their mind. Anyone that's undecided right now, it seems to me, has been doing other things for a year and a half aside from focusing on politics."

- Jecoliah Ellis caught up with several family members of the 427th National Guard unit, based in Webster. All share the same big issue - the ongoing war in Iraq and escalating danger in Afghanistan, where the 427 was deployed to. Out of the 4 family members interviewed, 2 preferred Clinton, 1 preferred Obama and 1 preferred McCain. Jecoliah has been keeping in touch with the families since last month, when 223 members of the 427th headed to Afghanistan. You can see her piece here.

- Evan Axelbank went to a Barack Obama rally at Twelve Corners in Brighton late Monday afternoon. Obama supporters have been especially active as the primary approaches. You can see some of their work while driving. They've strategically placed Obama banners on several highway overpasses in and around Rochester.

- Scott Hetsko says expect breezy weather when you're heading to the polls tomorrow.