First State in Super Tuesday Reports

The first results in the United States' massive presidential nomination contest, Super Tuesday, are in.

In West Virginia, Republicans holding a convention in that state have given 18 delegates to former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee.

A first round of voting there did not produce a winner, but the political horsetrading began soon after. Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the frontrunner and favorite for most of the Republican voting on Super Tuesday, finished with 16 percent behind former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney (41 percent) and Gov. Huckabee (33 percent). Congressman Ron Paul had 10 percent of the ballots cast.

In the second round of voting, analysts said the supporters of Sen. McCain and Congressman Paul appeared to give their votes to Gov. Huckabee. They did this, these analysts say, to prevent Gov. Romney--the principal rival to Sen. McCain--from getting an early victory and momentum in Super Tuesday contests.

As we often say in the States, politics ain't beanbag, meaning it can be a tough business.

At the end of the convention, Gov. Huckabee got 52 percent of the ballots cast, Gov. Romney, 47 percent, and Sen. McCain, one percent. Congressman Paul finished fourth but did not have enough votes to meet the election's threshhold, and was eliminated.

In the complex election rules, West Virginia has 12 delegates remaining to be picked. Nine of them will be chosen in the state's primary election on May 13, the other three will be determined at the Republican National Convention.

This is the first contest that Gov. Huckabee has won since the Iowa Caucus on January 3. In the delegate projections, Gov. Huckabee now has 58 delegates, trailing Gov. Romney's 77, and Sen. McCain's 93. Congressman Ron Paul has four.

Much more to come later so come back to this space and go to www.voanews.com for the latest results on the web, and tune us in on shortwave throughout this evening on VOA News Now for continuous updates.