Busy Night For GOP Districts 43, 45 Precinct Caucuses

The parking lot was full and near capacity at Robbinsdale Cooper High School where the District 45 Republican caucus convened. District 45 includes Robbinsdale, most of Crystal, New Hope, three precincts in Plymouth and three precincts in Golden Valley.

Senate District 45 Republican Party Chair Candace Oathout said in 2008 there were around 1,100 people who attended the caucus night. There are 29 precincts in District 45 and there were around 12 to 30 people in each room Feb. 7.

Oathout said around 1,000 people came out this year, but those numbers were still being tallied.

As far voting results, Rick Santorum received 322, Ron Paul got 208, Mitt Romney received 152 and Newt Gingrich got 60 at the District 45 straw poll Feb. 7.

For many districts counting was still going on Wednesday morning, but it was clear that Santorum had built an unassailable lead throughout Minnesota.

With 93.43 percent of the ballots counted, Rick Santorum had 21,495 votes, or 44.84 percent.  That was about the same percentage of the vote he’d maintained throughout the ballot counting Tuesday night. Ron Paul came in a strong second, with 13,039 votes, or 27.20 percent.

Mitt Romey, the presumed front-runner going into the night, got only 8,108 votes, less than 17 percent. And Newt Gingrich, who won in South Carolina last month, got 5,157 votes, or 10.76 percent. There were 140 votes for write-in candidates.

Santorum’s win wasn’t just impressive for its margin, but for its ubiquity across the state. With counting complete in all but four counties, Ron Paul won just four, in scattered rural areas across the state, and tied with Santorum in Lincoln County, on the South Dakota border. Paul did better in major cities, nearly scraping out a win in Ramsey County, but even there, Santorum bested Paul.

The issues discussed at precinct caucuses included voter fraud, the GOP candidates differences and similarities, healthcare, taxes, jobs, the economy and more.

"I am a strong traditionalist and looking to returning the party to its roots of limited government and sensible management and helping people understand they have personal responsibility for how their lives are run," said Oathout.

For Jacob and Holly Higgins of Plymouth were first-time caucus goers at the District 45 Republican event. This year will also be their first time voting for a presidential candidate.

"We wanted to be here because of the state of our country and we want to make a difference," Jacob said. "It seems like such a close race with the GOP candidates we felt we could make a difference by coming here."

The two support Mitt Romney because "we feel he has really great morals, he would be a really great president and he's run successful companies and if he can do that than why not a be able to run a successful country," said Holly.

More than 100 people were at the District 43 Republican party caucus for Ward 3 at in Plymouth. The District 43 GOP had caucuses at and . District 43 includes the cities of Plymouth, Minnetonka and Medicine Lake.

The voting for two Plymouth precincts at the church was close and showed 32 votes for Mitt Romney and 30 for Rick Santorum. Ron Paul got 27 votes and Newt Gingrich got only 9.  Further voting results for the precincts at the two middle schools will be coming in later today.

Reflecting on the caucus' discussions, Linda Bergsma of Plymouth said she is worried about what is being left for her young, adult children who want to own homes, but can't afford to yet and more.

"The wars we're getting into remind me of the Vietnam War, which I'm very much opposed to when I was in college," she said.

Last night was the first time Larry Goetzeinger of Plymouth had been to a caucus.

"We need to cut spending," he said. "There needs to be drastic cuts to get the economy spurred to create jobs."

Role of government keeps growing, but it needs to shrink, he said.