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P-I NEWS SERVICES
WASHINGTON -- Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee cried foul Sunday after John McCain's apparent victory in the Washington state caucuses Saturday.
Huckabee's campaign released a statement saying that it will be exploring all available legal options regarding the "dubious final results." Arizona Sen. McCain was announced as the victor in the caucuses. Sunday, he had 25 percent of the vote; Huckabee had 23.8 percent.
Huckabee's campaign chairman, Ed Rollins, said Luke Esser, Washington state's Republican Party chairman, chose to call the race too quickly for McCain.
Rollins said Huckabee was losing by 242 votes with 87 percent of the vote counted. He said there were 1,500 or so more votes that were apparently not counted.
"That is an outrage," Rollins said.
Rollins said the Huckabee campaign's lawyers will be on the ground in Washington soon to see why the count took so long, and why the vote-counting was stopped prematurely.
"It would be a disservice to every voter in Washington state to not pursue a full accounting of all votes cast," Rollins said.
"As I said, we are prepared to go to court, and we are also prepared to take our case all the way to the Republican National Convention in September."
Esser disputed the charges Sunday, calling the state party an "impartial arbiter" and saying he was confident that McCain's advantage would hold up.
"We have nothing but respect for Mr. Huckabee and his supporters. I was at Mrs. Huckabee's rally in Kirkland. It's just that we felt we had an obligation to report that John McCain won because it was the truth," Esser said.
Huckabee, a former Arkansas governor, won all 36 delegates at stake Saturday in Kansas and narrowly held on to win Louisiana's primary. However, he badly trails McCain, the likely nominee, in the overall race for delegates. Some say he should step aside as a way to help the GOP maintain resources for the general election.
Huckabee described such talk as "total nonsense."
WASHINGTON -- Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee cried foul Sunday after John McCain's apparent victory in the Washington state caucuses Saturday.
Huckabee's campaign released a statement saying that it will be exploring all available legal options regarding the "dubious final results." Arizona Sen. McCain was announced as the victor in the caucuses. Sunday, he had 25 percent of the vote; Huckabee had 23.8 percent.
Huckabee's campaign chairman, Ed Rollins, said Luke Esser, Washington state's Republican Party chairman, chose to call the race too quickly for McCain.
Rollins said Huckabee was losing by 242 votes with 87 percent of the vote counted. He said there were 1,500 or so more votes that were apparently not counted.
"That is an outrage," Rollins said.
Rollins said the Huckabee campaign's lawyers will be on the ground in Washington soon to see why the count took so long, and why the vote-counting was stopped prematurely.
"It would be a disservice to every voter in Washington state to not pursue a full accounting of all votes cast," Rollins said.
"As I said, we are prepared to go to court, and we are also prepared to take our case all the way to the Republican National Convention in September."
Esser disputed the charges Sunday, calling the state party an "impartial arbiter" and saying he was confident that McCain's advantage would hold up.
"We have nothing but respect for Mr. Huckabee and his supporters. I was at Mrs. Huckabee's rally in Kirkland. It's just that we felt we had an obligation to report that John McCain won because it was the truth," Esser said.
Huckabee, a former Arkansas governor, won all 36 delegates at stake Saturday in Kansas and narrowly held on to win Louisiana's primary. However, he badly trails McCain, the likely nominee, in the overall race for delegates. Some say he should step aside as a way to help the GOP maintain resources for the general election.
Huckabee described such talk as "total nonsense."