It was worth the drive and the wait.

“I wanted to give him the keys (to the White House) yesterday, ‘Here you go,'” said Elizabeth Fogg.

On Saturday, mother and son wore “Cruz for President” shirts at Lewiston Middle School in quiet support of their candidate.

Yes, Donald Trump was getting a lot of attention, but they were confident.

Turned out they had reason to be.

Cruz won the Androscoggin County Republican caucus with 662 unofficial votes to Trump’s 482 unofficial votes after an afternoon of speeches, rallying and waiting that ended with a CNN correspondent doing a live broadcast of the count in the school gym.

Lewiston’s was one of 22 caucus sites around the state on Saturday.

This was the first Republican caucus that had everyone statewide using a private ballot to vote.

“It was chaos four years ago; there was no controlling the process,” said Androscoggin County Republican Chairwoman Patti Gagne.

This year, all went smoothly and no one minded the requirement to show an ID at the door, she said.

Doors opened at noon with voting and municipal caucuses — deciding, for instance, who would represent their city or town at the state convention in April — stretching from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Isaiah Lary of Wales worked the Ted Cruz table with his wife, Raeann, and their seven young children. The kids handed out stickers and “Reigniting the Promise of America” fliers.

“He’s a consistent conservative,” Lary said of Cruz. “He’s the only one on stage at this point that consistently keeps Christian values, respects the Constitution, respects the lives of the unborn and the elderly.”

Getting their children involved had given them “a chance to understand a little bit about American politics and the importance of being involved on the national stage as well,” he said.

Dave Gilchrist of Lewiston wore one of the few red “Trump” baseball caps, making his pick known.

“He can be abrasive, he can be like our governor, who I love with all my heart,” Gilchrist said. “I want to see (the country) run like a business. We’ve tried everything else. I want to see this.”

Kathy Haines of Minot, there with her son, was another Trump supporter. Her husband is a lineman, and judging by the flow of work, which used to be steady, the economy still hasn’t recovered from the recession, she said.

“Without the middle class being strong, we’re not in great shape,” Haines said. “If he does beat Hillary (Clinton) — which I really think he will win the nomination — my guesstimate is all of the staffers and all of the people (Trump) brings on board will help with his more difficult areas. Right now, my concern is here. I’m willing to see him learn in those areas but do his magic where he’s most successful and that is to bring the economy back.”

For the afternoon’s speeches, Gov. Paul LePage entered and exited the stage to boisterous applause and standing ovations.

LePage came out supporting Trump a week ago. He said he likes Ohio Gov. John Kasich but that he can’t win. He called U.S. Sens. Cruz and Marco Rubio not ready yet.

“I am without a doubt the most conservative governor in the United States of America, and everybody is saying, ‘Why the heck would the most conservative governor in the U.S. support Donald Trump?'” LePage said.

Trump has business savvy, and like him, isn’t a politician, he said.

“I started on the streets, he started with a couple million dollars — but he turned them into billions,” LePage said. “I’m not going to begrudge anybody supporting anyone you want, except you’ve got to be cautious if you support Hillary, because she’s got one foot in jail and one foot stretching out to the White House.”

The unofficial results from the Androscoggin County Republicans, according to Chief Warden Alex Willette: U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, 662; Donald Trump, 482; U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, 118; Gov. John Kasich, 102; Ben Carson, 6; Carly Fiorina, 4; U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, 3; Gov. Jeb Bush, 1

One vote for U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders was among the write-ins.

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