Gwinnett County voters split along party lines in separate, non-binding Republican and Democrat straw polls gauging support for extending MARTA into the county.

Results Tuesday showed Democrats enthusiastically supported the idea, with Republican voters heavily in opposition. But when taken in total, the measure just narrowly failed - a stark difference from the last two votes on the idea, in 1986 and 1990. In those years, Gwinnett voters rejected the idea each time by a 3-1 margin.

The straw poll - one question among nine on the Republican ballot and one of 14 on the Democratic ballot - generated little attention in a primary dominated by a contentious race for the chairmanship of the County Commission. Still, some seized on the MARTA questions as a bellwether for opinions on suburban transit four decades after Gwinnett voters declined to help fund the regional transit system.

Sentiment against the proposal, however, seemed to center less on whether rail should come to the county — although that was an issue — but rather on distrust of MARTA and concerns that the agency would use tax revenues collected in Gwinnett to support operationas elsewhere in its system.

Some transit proponents had worried that linking the question of rail in the county to MARTA could doom the straw poll's chances, a scenario that may have played out if voters such as Wharton Smith are any indication.

"The last thing I want to do is give more money to Atlanta," he said after voting at Duluth City Hall.

Still, others supported rail in the county, whether under MARTA's banner or not.

"For a city as large as Atlanta to have such a minimal mass transit system is disappointing," said Paul Buck of Duluth. "To have so many people have a head-in-the-sand, I-want-my-car perpsective is selfish."

MARTA officials dispute claims that the agency wouldn't serve the county well, and argued they would be best suited to build a regional rail system of benefit to all metro residents.

Because the measure is non-binding, the future of rail in the county does not rise or fall on the vote. But political leaders will likely check the results as they decide how to pursue future regional transit plans.

Staff writer Rachel Pomerance contributed to this article.