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THE JEWISH CHRONICLE
april 24, 2008 Nisan 19, 5768
Strong voter turnout
The Jewish Community Center in Squirrel Hill was busy as voters turned out to cast their ballots in the Pennsylvania primary
on Tuesday.
Pittsburgh voters show up at polls in force
BY JANE MUDER
Chronicle Correspondent
Throughout Pennsylvania, turnout
for Tuesday’s primary was strong, and
that was especially true at the Jewish
Community Center in Squirrel Hill,
where election judges and poll workers
from Pittsburgh’s 14th ward estimated
that at least half of all registered De-
mocrats came out to vote.
Even though Hillary Clinton won
Tuesday’s Democratic primary by a
large margin over Barack Obama, sev-
eral voters interviewed at the JCC said
they had supported Obama.
“I read his books and decided he was
a really good person and a fine man,”
said Lynn Williams, a 59-year-old resi-
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Inside
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www.pittchron.com
dent of the 39th precinct. “He seems to
be a good politician so far, and I think
he’ll make a great president.”
Bob Goode, 67, also voted for Barack
Obama. He characterized his chosen
candidate as a man with “a very high
moral vision and the ability to bring in
all of the best people.”
Rebecca Wassell, 22, is emblematic
of many Obama supporters, who are of-
ten young adults, some of whom are
participating in their first presidential
election.
“I have supported Barack since he
was one of dozens of candidates in the
race,” said Wassell.
Regardless of how they voted, citi-
zens impressed poll workers by show-
ing up in force. At 6 p.m., the turnout
Serving the Greater Pittsburgh Area
Vol. 48, No. 51 $1.50
Clinton takes Jewish
vote in key
Pennsylvania victory
BY JTA STAFF
Exit polls show that Hillary Clinton
took the Jewish vote in winning the
Democratic primary in Pennsylvania.
Media outlets are projecting that
Clinton, a U.S. senator from New York,
defeated U.S. Sen. Barack Obama,
D-Ill. But the overall margin of victory
— seen as a key factor in determining
whether she fights on — is still unclear.
Exit polling found that Jews made
up 7 percent of the electorate, and
went 57 percent to 43 percent for Clin-
ton. While Clinton took the Jewish
vote, her margin was much wider
among whites overall, winning 62 per-
cent to 38 percent. In particular, her
performance among white Catholics
was particularly strong, winning 71
percent to 29 percent.
In recent weeks, both campaigns
conducted aggressive outreach efforts
aimed at Jewish voters in the state, de-
ploying multiple high-profile surro-
gates, as well as the candidates them-
selves in some instances.
Clinton had the support of several
prominent Jewish politicians, most no-
tably Gov. Ed Rendell, as well as many
top donors to the Jewish Federation of
Chronicle photo by Kristopher Radder
Please see Clinton, page 31.
Illustrated scroll
was significantly higher than the last
election.
“It is a huge increase [from 2007] —
a five-fold increase, and there are still
two hours to go,” said Nick Pasciullo,
50, of Squirrel Hill, who was the judge
of elections for the 40th precinct.
Melissa Jeske, the majority inspector
for the 40th precinct, has been working
the polls since age 18. At 6:05 p.m.
Tuesday, the 27-year-old Squirrel Hill
resident said, “The turnout is probably
about the same [as 2004]. We haven’t
hit the dinner and after-work crowd —
assuming we get the dinner and after-
work crowd.”
Michael Ashley-Rollman was the
judge of elections for the 35th precinct.
Or L’Simcha inaugurates children’s
Please see Voters page 31.
Torah. See story, page 2.
Times To Remember
KINDLE SABBATH CANDLES: 7:51 p.m. DST.
SABBATH ENDS: 8:54 p.m. DST.