Jackson County voters mirrored a state and national trend in casting ballots for Democrats in last week’s election.

According to canvassed results from the Jackson County Clerk’s Office, Democrat and president-elect Barack Obama and running mate Joe Biden garnered 5,572 votes in Jackson County compared to the 3,550 votes cast for Republican John McCain and vice president nominee Sarah Palin. It was the sixth presidential election in a row where the county favored a Democratic candidate.

There were five municipalities in Jackson County that did favor the Republican ticket, but all were separated by 32 or fewer votes — one even being decided by one vote. The town of Alma Center went for McCain 243 votes to 232, as did the town of Bear Bluff (52 to 20), the town of Cleveland (122 to 116), the town of Garden Valley (115 to 106) and the town of Knapp (82 to 81).

Seven other president and vice president candidates were on the ballot in Wisconsin. In Jackson County, independents Ralph Nader and Matt Gonzalez came in third with 62 votes, followed by Chuck Baldwin and Darrell L. Castle of the Constitution Party with 23 votes; Libertarians Bob Barr and Wayne A Root with 22 votes; Wisconsin Green candidates Cynthia McKinney and Rosa Clemente with 17 votes; and Gloria LaRiva and Robert Moses of the Party for Socialism and Libertarian with one vote.

Brian Moore and Stewart A. Alexander of the Socialist Party USA and Jeffrey J. Wamboldt and David J. Klimisch of We, the People did not receive any votes in Jackson County. There were two write-ins recorded.

The county clerk’s office recorded 9,342 votes cast in Jackson County in the Nov. 4 election. According to data from the Wisconsin Department of Administration, 59.7 percent of eligible voters in the county voted; the figure is calculated based on the department’s population estimates as of Jan. 1 and counting those who would have been of voting age.

Despite a near 60-percent voter turnout, the amount of ballots cast were not a record for Jackson County and lagged behind the 67 percent of eligible voters who came out in 2004. According to County Clerk Kyle Deno, there were 456 fewer votes in this presidential election than four years ago.

“I was surprised,” Deno said.

Even in Black River Falls, where 1,715 ballots were cast, there was no record set. City Clerk Bill Arndt said the city had exceeded 1,800 votes even prior to 2000.

Still, ballots cast in the county helped propel Democrats to victory.

In the Third Congressional District race, county voters sided with Democratic incumbent and winner Rod Kind in more than a 2-to-1 margin over Republican challenger Paul Stark with 6,199 votes to 2,666. Libertarian challenger Kevin Barrett had 160 votes.

In the 92nd Assembly District, Democratic winner Mark Radcliffe picked up 5,467 votes in Jackson County while Republican Dan Hellman only came away with 3,169 votes. Radcliffe had a near 2-to-1 margin in his hometown of Black River Falls, 1,070 votes to 589.

County voters also gave the edge to Democratic winner Chris Danou in the 91st Assembly District with 266 votes. Republican Dave Hegenbarth received 134 votes while independent Paul Beseler picked up 16 votes and Libertarian Ted Burleson had one vote.

Black River Falls was one of 22 communities in Wisconsin that had an advisory healthcare referendum on the ballot, urging the Legislature to enact affordable healthcare legislation by the end of 2009. With over 413,000 votes cast, the referendum won in a landslide with 74 percent support; Black River Falls voters favored the reform 1,104 to 299.

Citizen Action of Wisconsin — an organization focused on social, economic and environmental issues — mounted a state-wide campaign to place the healthcare advisory referendums on the ballot in cities and counties across the state. Over 32,000 Wisconsin voters signed referendum petitions to have it placed on the ballot.

“The referendums laid down a clear line between real healthcare reform and half measures, and the voters of Wisconsin overwhelmingly chose bold reform,” said Robert Kraig, program director for Citizen Action of Wisconsin, in a statement. “The referendums also clearly distinguished between legislative candidates, as many were unwilling to endorse such a strong reform statement.”

The advisory referendums did not specify what plan to adopt and instead leaves that to the Legislature. The wording of the referenda in 20 of 22 communities was “Shall the next state Legislature enact healthcare reform legislation by Dec. 31, 2009, that guarantees every Wisconsin resident affordable healthcare coverage as good as what is provided to state legislators?” Dane and Douglas counties had slightly different language.

For more detailed election results from Jackson County, visit www.co.jackson.wi.us. For more information about Citizen Action of Wisconsin or results from the healthcare referendum, visit citizenactionwi.org.