Caucus recap

Last evening my wife and I attended our first precinct caucus as residents of Ramsey. Oddly enough, the GOP and DFL caucuses were in the same building. In fact, a couple of people in our precinct (Ward 2 - Precinct 2 in Ramsey) inadvertently went to W2-P2 on the DFL side. In said precinct, there were literally two people --- the precinct chair and the secretary. I guess when it's a non-Presidential election year without a cult of personality on the Democrat ticket, it's just not as important to show up.

But I digress.

We had 22 people from our precinct (including our Mayor, Bob Ramsey) attend the caucus, and there was definitely an energy about the room! Even though Ramsey is solidly conservative (right down to the Mayor's office and city council) there was no complacency about what lies ahead in 2010. Everyone knows there is a golden opportunity for the GOP to make sweeping gains not only nationally but also in the state of Minnesota.

Having been a precinct chair while living in Coon Rapids, I was nominated by my lovely bride to vie for the same position in Ramsey. I ran against a long-time Ramsey resident named Andre, who ended up beating me out 15-7. Hey, I was just flattered to have received more than two votes (that is assuming my wife voted for me. After all, I was late for dinner last evening). However, I was the sole nominee for vice chair, thus attaining that position by default. I was also named on 21 of 22 ballots to be one of eleven delegates!

Regarding the gubernatorial straw poll, Tom Emmer won our precinct with 11 votes. Marty Seifert came in second with seven with the remaining four votes interspersed amongst the second tier candidates.

With all of the craziness surrounding our move out of Coon Rapids eighteen months ago and getting settled in to our current home, I had been out of the political loop for pretty much that entire time. But I have to say it sure felt good to be in the midst of the battle once again.

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