ST PAUL, Minn. — The buzz right now is all about next week's Super Tuesday cluster of presidential primaries, but don't forget about your precinct caucus this Tuesday at 7 p.m.
That message was important enough to bring Minnesota Republican Party Chair David Hann and his DFL counterpart Ken Martin to make a joint appearance Monday at the State Capitol. They want voters to know the caucuses are their best chance to get involved in building a political party at the grassroots level.
"We would like to encourage everyone to find their precinct caucus location and go and participate," Hann told reporters.
"It’s a way to have a voice in the selection of candidates, in the governance of their party, and also, this year, the selection of delegates who will go to the national conventions in the summer."
Martin stressed that in Minnesota political power springs from average people getting involved in the process.
"We are unique in this country in the sense that we have, as state parties, this amazing ability for an average person to show up and have a huge say in our party process, from the election of delegates to the endorsement of candidates to the passing of resolutions."
What Martin and Hann have in common is the need for people to get involved in those precinct caucuses, which amount to 4,000 local meetings held simultaneously across the state. The caucus is the first step toward picking delegates for local, regional and state conventions, and for crafting the resolutions and platforms that express the party's stance on issues.
"We need to recognize that people are animated into politics by the candidates and their campaigns, but also about the issues they care about deeply," Martin remarked.
The Secretary of State's office has an online caucus finder tool to help people learn where to go Tuesday night.
The main attraction of those caucuses for decades was the presidential preference straw poll. It provided our first real glimpse of where Minnesota's party faithful stood on the race for the White House. But those straw polls were replaced in 2020 with a real presidential preference primary election.
Turnout for the real primary election was triple that of the 2016 caucuses, and it stood to reason. The polls were open all day and early voting was allowed. By contrast, in the precinct caucus system people had to be at their caucus site in person at 7 p.m. to take part in the straw poll.
State party leaders supported the switch to a real presidential preference primary, but insisted the parties are provided a list show which voters picked which party's ballot. That has since been amended, so that the party chairs only get to see who voted in their party's presidential primary.
The voter list was an extension of the sign-in sheets at precinct caucuses, and it enabled the parties to comply with national party rules designed to ensure that primaries are decided by party members.
Hann and Martin will do their fair share of trashing the opposition between now and November, but their joint appearance was a demonstration of their commitment to the idea that democracy needs to be inclusive and accessible.
"We do think it’s important for the public to understand we are not enemies," Hann said, as he looked at Martin.
"We are competitors, and we have different views of what is the best way to achieve the goals we believe are going to serve the interests of the whole state."