Stunned Democratic Party leaders in Hendricks County are wondering if they can hold on to their newfound voters from this week's primary.

Roughly 22,600 of the 35,000 votes for presidential candidates cast Tuesday in the county were for Democrats. That surprising total comes in a county that traditionally votes 80 percent for Republicans.

The Democrats running for president, or their representatives, made at least four highly energized campaign visits in Hendricks County and Westside Indianapolis. Sen. Barack Obama was in Plainfield, Sen. Hillary Clinton was in Brownsburg and at Ben Davis High School, and former President Bill Clinton was in Avon.

"A few years ago when I was first getting active in the party, it was fair to say we'd only get 10 to 15 people at a meeting -- and now we'll have 70 or 80 show up," he said.

Lynn Behling, the county Democratic Party chairman, said the interest could help the party recruit candidates to run for county offices in November.

Party leaders can appoint candidates to fill vacancies on the fall ballot that weren't filled in the May primary. Democrats ran in the primary for some state races, but only two appeared on the ballot Tuesday for county races.

"I believe the Democratic Party is going to show some real gains in this county," Behling said.

The party leaders attributed the Democratic tsunami to various reasons, including dissatisfaction with the economy, high gasoline prices and a desire to vote in the historic election for the first black or female president.

"The fact that so many chose to vote Democratic also means they are not happy with the Republican Party, even though they are die-hard Republicans," Behling said.

Some voters may have come to the polls in response to radio host Rush Limbaugh's call for Republicans to vote for Clinton to prolong the race, he said.

That would be a change.

"In the past, I've heard that it was more common for Democrats to vote in the Republican primary because there were so few candidates on the Democratic ballot. A lot of Democrat sympathizers had to vote Republican to feel they had a voice in the political life of the community," Behling acknowledged.