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An overwhelming turnout of Juneau Democrats gave Sen. Barack Obama an overwhelming win in party caucuses Tuesday evening.

Nearly 1,200 Democratic voters packed Centennial hall, stunning and thrilling Democratic leaders such as state Rep. Beth Kerttula, D-Juneau.

"I just feel like we can change the world tonight," she said.

Kerttula and most of the crowd supported Obama, providing him with a nearly 3-to-1 advantage in Juneau, mirroring or exceeding his big statewide victory.

"I am hopeful, hopeful that the nightmare of George W. Bush will soon be over," said Claire Richardson, an Obama supporter, in a speech that brought down the house.

Obama's chief rival, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, found herself outmatched, despite some impassioned supporters.

"Hillary Clinton has the backbone, the tenacity, and the guts," Joan Cahill said.

Obama had the only organized campaign in Alaska, sending paid staff to Alaska weeks ago, and he reaped big rewards on Super Tuesday.

The preliminary count Tuesday evening showed Obama winning 76 percent in District 3 in downtown Juneau, and 72 percent in District 4 in Mendenhall Valley.

That translates to 16 Obama delegates from downtown and 12 from the valley, while Clinton will get five from each.

No other candidate met the minimum 15 percent threshold to receive delegates.

Delegates are apportioned based on Democratic voting in the last gubernatorial election. Popular former Gov. Tony Knowles' strong showing locally gave Juneau the strongest representation at the state convention for any city of its size. The downtown district gets 21 delegates, while the valley gets 17, the top two in the state.

Beyond Obama's delegate lead, the big story in Juneau was the enormous turnout, topping anywhere else in the state on a per capita basis.

In Juneau, 780 Democrats turned out to vote from House District 3, encompassing downtown and Douglas Island. House District 4 provided another 391 voters.

Juneau Sen. Kim Elton chaired the caucus, and proclaimed himself thrilled and amazed at the turnout, which he called "one of the most amazing political gatherings I've seen in this community.

Voter registration was scheduled to end at 6 p.m., but anyone in line by then was promised a change to register. Lines were so backed up that it took until after 7 p.m. for that to be completed and the action to begin.

Local party chairwoman Kim Metcalfe said it was the biggest turnout since the huge 1972 caucus, and may have exceeded that event's 1,200 participants. That year the caucus, held at the Baranof Hotel, was shut down by the fire marshal and reconvened a week later at the armory.

Before the voting coalesced around Obama and Clinton, supporters of other candidates made pitches to the crowd.

An Edwards supporter urged continued support despite Edwards' withdrawal.

A Kucinich supporter blamed "corporate power and corporate media" for forcing the Ohio congressman from the race.

And a Gravel supporter praised his opposition to the Vietnam War's Gulf of Tonkin resolution, but better informed audience members hooted in derision. It was actually former U.S. Sen. Ernest Gruening who cast one of two votes against the resolution; Gravel capitalized on the controversial vote to defeat Gruening in the primary later.

Supporters of those candidates mostly joined in the Obama or Clinton camps, to make their votes count. Candidates who file for the Alaska ballot remain on the ballot unless they formally withdraw. Though several have folded their campaigns, only Sen. Chris Dodd removed his name from the ballot, party leaders said.

• Contact reporter Pat Forgey at 586-4816 or patrick.forgey@juneauempire.com.