Republicans hope to change state budget, gain control of seats long held by the DFL
Local Republican caucus Tuesday went “extremely well” according to a party official.
“I couldn’t be more pleased,” said Terry Stone, chairman of the Koochiching County GOP and executive of the GOP’s Eighth Congressional District. “As caucuses go, we were productive.”
Twenty-five people turned out Tuesday to participate in the grassroots-level political function. Stone described a caucus as a place where the legal process of politics gets a fair start.
Delegates were selected for representation at the county convention. The GOP county convention for Koochiching County will be held at 10 a.m. Feb. 13, at the Ranier Community Building. Delegates, and interested members of the community, can attend the county convention, where delegates to the District 8 convention are selected and ideas for the party platform are further discussed. The District 8 convention will be held on April 10. The next step, Stone said, is the state convention on April 30.
“Things are moving rather quickly,” Stone said.
He explained that he chose Feb. 13 for the county caucus so that he can travel to assist at other county conventions in the Eighth Congressional District. He also noted that the GOP has never held its county convention so quickly after the caucus.
Another important part of the caucus was to allow participants to indicate their preference for gubernatorial candidates in a straw-poll format.
Rep. Marty Seifert received 22 of 25 votes in the local gubernatorial straw poll conducted Tuesday, and was also the leader statewide. Stone said that Rep. Tom Emmer also received one vote; and two lesser-known GOP members received nods.
With 99.73 percent of precincts reporting by Thursday morning, Seifert received 50.16 percent of the votes statewide in the GOP gubernatorial straw poll. Emmer received 39.32 percent of the vote. Sen. David Hann received 5.16 percent of the votes. Bob Carney Jr., Leslie Davis, Bill Haas, Phil Herwig and write-in candidates completed the GOP choices and together received about 5 percent of the votes. Statewide, 19,590 GOP members participated in the straw poll.
Stone called Seifert “a guy that will get work done,” and noted that the candidate is unique in that he has not accepted any money from lobbyists or political action committees.
In addition to completing the straw poll, three resolutions were entertained. Caucus participants were invited to submit suggestions for changes they wanted to see made to planks in the GOP platform.
The suggestions were: deleting the plank that reinstates the death penalty; clarifying the ability for property owners to be able to consume tobacco in their homes; and deleting the plank about “anchor babies,” where a non-U.S. citizen gives birth in the U.S. to a child.
Stone said attendees were united on several topics.
He noted that many were disenchanted by what he called a “dynasty” of DFL leadership in Minnesota’s Eighth Congressional District, a position currently held by Rep. Jim Oberstar. Oberstar has held the seat since 1975; and was preceded by DFLer John Blatnik, who held the seat from 1947-1975. The last Republican to hold the seat was William Pittenger from 1939 to 1947.
Stone said the state budget was also a unifying topic for caucus attendees.
“We’re way beyond raising taxes a little and cutting back a little,” Stone said, adding that Minnesota is “involved in an incredible amount of nonsense.”
Marv Ott, of Grand Rapids, spoke to the group at the beginning of the caucus. Stone explained that Ott is considering running for the state House of Representatives District 3A seat currently held by Rep. Tom Anzelc. That seat also has a history of DFL leadership and was long held by the late Irv Anderson.
