Valerie Nies wasn't sure who she wanted to vote for when she walked into Bismarck's Democratic caucus on Tuesday.

She had done her homework and was well-versed on all of the candidates, but the 24-year-old Bismarck woman was still not sure whose name would get her "X." She was partial to Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, but she wasn't sure he'd be able to beat President Bush, and that was the most important quality she was looking for in a candidate.

So she took a left and walked to the booths set up by five campaigns, Dennis Kucinich, John Kerry, John Edwards, Howard Dean and Wesley Clark.

She asked intelligent questions and listened to their pitches for about a half hour, and when she left the last booth, she had made up her mind.

Clark would get her vote.

She and more than 10,500 other North Dakotans made their preference known in the state's second-ever presidential caucuses. With all the voting locations reporting Tuesday night, Kerry won 51 percent of the votes, followed by Clark with 24 percent and Dean with 12 percent. The results will help determine which candidates get the state's 14 delegates at the Democratic national convention this summer. Candidates had to get at least 15 percent of the vote to earn delegates, so Kerry will get 10 of North Dakota's delegates and Clark will get four.

State Democratic Party director Vern Thompson said in Fargo, a few hundred people waiting in line broke out in applause when the voting location opened. In Grand Forks, the line of people waiting was "four deep," Langdon officials ran out of sign-in sheets and Fort Totten officials ran out of ballots.

"My sense is that everyone is enjoying the experience," he said.

In Bismarck, the Democratic caucus drew a steady stream of people all day, from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. Unlike a state-sponsored election, the caucus was run by the Democratic Party, and inside the voting location campaign workers were allowed to set up booths and try to sway voters.

Tim Purdon, chairman of Bismarck Democrats, was pleased to report that he only recognized about 5 percent of the people showing up to vote. All the new faces reinforced his belief that the caucuses would help invigorate the Democratic Party.

Former Gov. Art Link showed up to vote, and said he was impressed by the turnout in Bismarck.

"I've never seen this much interest in an election," he said. "It's great."

He and his wife, Grace, cast their votes for Kerry. Link said he was a Dick Gephardt fan, but when he dropped out of the race he went with Kerry because of his military experience, congressional experience and electability.

"He knows the pros and cons of war personally," Link said.

Dwayne Krenz, a retired truck driver, started paying close attention to politics eight years ago; recording every session of Congress on C-SPAN.

"I bet I got a pickup-load of tapes," he said.

He was impressed that one of the people manning a campaign booth came all the way from Buffalo, N.Y., to stump for Kerry. Julie Andreef, a 30-year-old lawyer, left her job to work for the campaign. She said after the Iowa caucus the campaign wanted to send her to Michigan, but she asked to be sent to North Dakota instead. She was a paid staffer, but was making less than she did her first year out of college.

That impressed Krenz, who, despite his considerable interest in politics, was undecided when he arrived at the caucus. One thing was for sure, however: "A stray dog would be better than Bush," he said. "I hate Bush so bad."

That was a common refrain among Democrats: Bush has to go. And many of them were concerned about the war in Iraq.

Vern Hansen, 86, and his wife, Doris, 85, showed up to vote even though the temperature was below zero. They're concerned about the Medicare overhaul passed by Congress and Bush's plan to send astronauts to Mars even while the national deficit is ballooning. Vern Hansen said his motto is "ABB - Anybody but Bush."

Across town at the Republican caucus, the caucus was a formality, where Bush was endorsed by Republicans. Still, hundreds of people showed up to show their support for the president. Gov. John Hoeven and Bismarck Mayor John Warford spoke to the crowd, which did a "Four more years!" chant and then broke into district meetings to endorse candidates for the Legislature.

GOP Director Jason Stverak said more than 2,200 Republicans turned out to vote, and Bush won all 26 delegates to the Republican national convention. He said the party was pleased to report that lots of young voters and families showed up at the caucuses.

Retired police lieutenant Pat Idyle showed up to vote statewide in the Republican caucus, even though there was no doubt Bush would defeat the other guy on the ballot, Jack Fellure. Fellure is a West Virginia man who was the only other person who met the criteria to get on the Republican ballot by filing paperwork with the Federal Election Commission and raising more than $5,000 for his campaign.

Idyle said he "didn't have a whole lot of other things to do" Tuesday night, and wanted to show his support for Bush. Besides, he said, "I never miss a chance to vote in an election."

(Reach Deena Winter at 250-8251 or deena.winter@bismarcktribune.com.)