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Two weeks after Brazos County's primary elections, local Democratic leaders named Sen. Barack Obama the winner of the local caucus, but they were still sorting out which delegates would attend the county convention later this month.
About 7,822 Brazos County voters -- or 57 percent -- cast ballots for Obama during the March 4 Democratic primary. About 5,853, or 42 percent, of local voters cast ballots for Obama's opponent, Sen. Hillary Clinton. Statewide, Clinton earned more Texas primary ballots, defeating Obama with 51 percent of the vote.
The number of votes the candidates earned, however, is separate from the caucus, by which delegates are selected to support their candidate at county, state and, ultimately, national conventions.
Obama and Clinton are vying for the Democratic presidential nomination, which will be determined at a national convention in Denver in August. Republican John McCain already has claimed the GOP nomination.
Anyone who voted in a Democratic primary was eligible to participate in caucuses, which were held at precincts throughout Texas after the polls closed March 4. Caucus turnout determined roughly one-third of the Texas delegates needed by Clinton and Obama, while the other two-thirds comes from primary votes. Republican delegates are identified solely by primary votes.
Maggie Charleton, executive director of the Brazos County Democratic Party, spent Tuesday reviewing caucus paperwork with party representatives.
"It's not official," she said of the local caucus results. "We're sitting here right now still working on it and getting stuff entered in the database."
Charleton estimated, however, that more than 250 Obama delegates and more than 150 Clinton delegates would be sent to the county convention later this month. Another 368 alternates also were identified during the caucus.
"That's a lot," Charleton said. "Two years ago, we had 120. It's been a problem, but a nice problem."
Those who "caucused" earlier this month signed in with a presidential preference and the name of a delegate they wished to nominate. A formula was in place to determine how many delegates could be nominated at each precinct. The candidate who has more people caucusing on his or her behalf gets more delegates to send to the convention, Charleton explained.
Statewide caucus results aren't finalized, but Texas Democratic Party estimates show Obama won about 56 percent of the state's delegates to Clinton's 44 percent.
However, that number reflects just 41 percent of the precincts that caucused statewide, said Hector Nieto, a spokesman for the Texas Democratic Party.
"That number is unofficial," he said. "What happened on election night was delegates being elected to county conventions. The final results don't happen until the state convention on June 6 and 7. The final 67 delegates from Texas will be determined at that time. They will be split up between the two candidates, depending on the presidential preference of the delegates."
Before that can happen, though, 36 delegates and 36 alternates will be selected at the March 29 Brazos County convention. Those delegates go on to the state convention, where they caucus as the 14-county Senate District 5, Charleton explained. Four delegates and one alternate will come out of that convention and go on to the national level with other Texas representatives.
"It's just a very involved process," Charleton said. "A lot of people have complained about it. It is confusing. But some people say it's democracy in action and it's fun to watch.
"We're making history no matter what," she said. "We have an African-American man running who is a very viable candidate, and we have a very bright, intelligent woman running who is a viable candidate. We're breaking new ground. It's terribly stressful and very exciting all at the same time."
• April Avison's e-mail address is april.avison@theeagle.com.
