Meeker County Republicans overwhelmingly support former state senator, Dr. Scott Jensen, as the party’s gubernatorial candidate.
That was the result of a straw poll conducted Feb. 2 at Litchfield Opera House, where 105 party faithful from throughout the county gathered for their election year caucus.
Jensen received 50 votes in the straw poll, while the next highest total was 11 votes for Dr. Neil Shah. Mike Murphy received 10 votes, and “undecided” also received 10 votes.
The Meeker County GOP previously had two caucus locations, one in Dassel and one in Litchfield. This year, however, the party opted to have one central location.
“I was very pleased in that we had 105 people caucusing,” county GOP Chairman Andy Carlson said. “For an off year (election), it felt very well-attended to me anyway.”
In addition to the straw poll for governor, caucus attendees heard from District 18A Rep. Dean Urdahl and District 18 Sen. Scott Newman, as well as Noran Dillon, who delivered an address on behalf of Congresswoman Michelle Fischbach.
“A lot of people are revved up to see some changes,” Carlson said. “From our (party) perspective, that’s a good thing.”
Gov. Tim Walz’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic is “probably No. 1” in terms of issues Carlson has heard from the party’s base, he said. The economy, specifically concerns about inflation ranks a solid No. 2 for many, as well as what they see as runaway spending by Democrats, particularly at the federal and state levels, Carlson said.
“This (caucusing) is truly the grassroots level of politics,” he said. “Our country, beyond the party stuff, it depends a lot on having a well-informed electorate.”
Republicans also submitted resolutions suggesting changes to the state party platform. The resolutions will be forwarded to the county resolution committee, which reviews and distills them into suggestions germane to the state platform.
Republicans will gather for their county convention at 9 a.m. March 26 at Litchfield Opera house, a day when the party’s board of directors is up for reelection and delegates to the District 7 convention will be chosen.
DFL meets in two locations
Western Meeker County DFLers caucused at Litchfield Middle School, while those from the eastern part of the county as well as Cokato gathered in Dassel.
Turnout was light, with a total of about 20 people attending in person at the two sites. Another 10 submitted resolutions or requests to serve as delegates via the mail or by dropping off forms at the caucus sites, according to county DFL Chairwoman Nancy Larson.
Despite the sparse turnout, Larson said, some good discussion of issues took place.
“It was a combination of COVID and other things,” Larson said. “It was smaller, and we expected it to be.”
Caucus goers were solidly behind Gov. Tim Walz as their gubernatorial candidate, Larson said. And she thought it interesting to hear about the straw poll among Republicans.
Though not surprised by Jensen’s popularity, she said, “one thing I’ve heard is that very rarely is the person who’s picked this early, very rarely does that become the person who ends up being the candidate.”
November is a long time away, so it’s difficult to know just how much of role the pandemic will play in the election outcome, Larson said.
“I’m just glad caucuses are over and now we just have to plan for the convention,” she said.
Although even that is a bit unsettled at the moment.
DFLers have a Meeker County convention and later hold a senate district convention. But because redistricting hasn’t been settled yet, where various county residents might end up in political districts isn’t known.
“In a few days, we should know,” Larson said. “Then it could be a whole new ball of wax. More so than usual. It’s going to be interesting.”
The county DFL convention is tentatively set for 10 a.m. March 19 at the Litchfield Middle School cafeteria.
