Huckabee wins state's first GOP Convention

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CHARLESTON -- Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee won the first-ever West Virginia GOP Presidential Convention on Tuesday after he won support from backers of two other candidates.

In the convention's first round of voting, no candidate won the required majority of the votes from the 1,130 Republican delegates, and Huckabee was in second place behind former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

In the second round, Huckabee picked up enough delegate votes -- nearly 200 -- from backers of Sen. John McCain and U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, to win. Altogether, Huckabee received 567 votes, or 51 percent, in that final round of voting. Romney came in second with 47 percent and McCain placed third with 1 percent.

The results of Tuesday's convention means 18 national convention delegates will go to Huckabee. Nine others will be determined by the GOP primary election on May 13, and three delegates will be determined by top state party officials.

Former state Sen. Steve Harrison accepted the nomination for Huckabee. Huckabee, like Romney and Paul, spoke at the convention but left before the results were announced. McCain did not attend.

With 21 Republican conventions or caucuses taking place on Super Tuesday, Harrison said the early afternoon win in West Virginia was crucial for hopes of fueling similar results for the Huckabee campaign in other states' contests.

"Since West Virginia is the first to announce its results on Super Tuesday, it gives the governor a lot of extra momentum throughout the rest of the day," Harrison said. "It's great for the state to now have presidential candidates paying attention to what we think and how we vote."

John Morris, chairman of the Cabell County Republican Executive Committee, said he wasn't surprised by Huckabee's win. Of the 39 Cabell County delegates who voted in the final round, 31 chose Huckabee and eight chose Romney.

"It was a hard-fought fight for the candidates," Morris said.

As Huckabee's margin became clear, some Romney supporters angrily confronted McCain backers. One called McCain campaign adviser Gary Abernathy "slimy," and compared him with departed West Virginia University football coach Rich Rodriguez.

"Grow up," Abernathy replied.

"Unfortunately, this is what Senator McCain's inside Washington ways look like: He cut a backroom deal with the tax-and-spend candidate he thought could best stop Governor Romney's campaign of conservative change," Romney national campaign manager Beth Myers later said in a statement.

In Little Rock, Ark., to vote Tuesday afternoon, Huckabee dismissed the criticism.

"There was no backroom deal. There wasn't even a frontroom deal. There was no deal," he said.

According to John Tate, national political director for Paul, the Huckabee campaign promised to give three out of the 18 delegates won Tuesday to the Paul campaign. Once it was seen that Paul would not win the GOP convention, Tate said dedicated Paul delegates accepted the deal and supported Huckabee.

"We weren't sure if we could lock in every one (of the Paul supporters) for Huckabee, but it was almost a unanimous decision," Tate said. "The Huckabee campaign knew they could pick up 18 national delegates with our help. Making political deals during a convention is very commonplace."

The unexpected win was a boon for Huckabee, who had failed to win a single primary or caucus since his surprise victory in Iowa last month.

House Minority Leader Tim Armstead, R-Kanawha, said he voted for Huckabee because of his administrative experience and conservative values. Armstead said it's important to have presidential candidates come to the state and talk to West Virginians about West Virginia issues.

"I'm happy to see Republican candidates, like Gov. Huckabee, understand West Virginia and recognize that the state plays a significant role in electing our next president," Armstead said.

The new convention format was authorized in 2006 by the West Virginia Republican Executive Committee, with at least part of the goal to give the state an earlier say in selection of a nominee for president. Some registered Republicans, however, said they felt disenfranchised because less than a third of the state's delegates to the national GOP convention will be determined by their vote.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The Associated Press

Delegates at the West Virginia Republican Presidential Convention await results Tuesday in Charleston.