Ross Perot beat out Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton in write-in votes in the unusual North Dakota Democratic "beauty contest" primary in which neither man was on the ballot.
Three minor candidates who were on the ballot led in the quirky and officially meaningless Democratic primary.Perot, the Texas billionaire who hasn't announced a formal bid for the presidency, was largely ignored on the Republican ballot, where President Bush took 87 percent of the vote.
Perot's 15 percent in the just-for-show Democratic primary mirrored estimated write-in support in primaries in Oregon and Washington.
Even state officials weren't taking the voting very seriously, coming as it did after last Tuesday's primaries in six states that sealed the nomination for Democrat Bill Clinton. Bush cinched the GOP nomination even earlier.
The Democrats allocated their 15 pledged delegates in springtime caucuses, giving Clinton seven and the rest remaining uncommitted. Clinton wasn't even on the ballot and as a write-in candidate trailed the pack.
Leading was Lyndon LaRouche, a perennial candidate currently serving a 15-year prison sentence for mail and tax fraud.