It was heavy support for Hawaii-born Barack Obama among the crowds of people who turned out at Jefferson Elementary tonight.

Organizers who collected the ballots at one of the smaller precincts here tonight counted 71 total ballots, which was a huge increase from 2004, when they collected a mere 3 ballots. Of those 71, 60 were votes for Obama and 11 were votes for Hillary Clinton.

The larger District 23 reported 431 ballots for Obama, 191 for Clinton, 3 for Dennis Kucinich and 2 uncommitted.

"I was a dyed-in-the-wool Republican, but I became a card-carrying Democrat because of Obama," said Mary Rivera, 64, of Kapahulu.

"In my retirement years, it's great to find a man who can energize not just young people but senior citizens like myself," she said.

"It would be nice to have a first woman president," said Dolores Biroan, 71, of Kakaako. Biroan voted for Hillary Clinton "because she is experienced."

Francis Ajo, 28, came out to the caucus to support Clinton.

"I support universal health care, and I'm against the war," she said. "She will get stuff done."

"I'm proud to support her as a woman, but that would be a footnote to everything else."

"Both (Obama and Clinton) are close, but neither has a satisfactory answer for the issue of gay marriage," said Dayv St. Pierre, 40, of Kaimuki.

St. Pierre said he is casting a ballot for Obama because of his performance in the debates and his proposed tax policies.

Matt Jisa, 43, of Waikiki, stood in line for nearly two hours to cast his ballot for Dennis Kucinich in part because of Kucinich's efforts towards peace and his favorable stance on gay marriage.

"Even though he's dropped out (of the presidential race), he's worth listening to, so any attention I can draw to Dennis Kucinich is worth it," he said.