Minnesota caucus meetings kick-start year full of politics

 

Minnesotans by the thousands headed to precinct caucus meetings Tuesday night, a first chance for many to personally participate in one of the most consequential state elections in years, with an open governor’s seat as the top prize.

The meetings — more than 4,000 in all held in churches, schools, community centers and other public sites all over the state — begin the long process the parties use to pick their candidates for governor, Senate and other races.

Caucusgoers were also voting in a nonbinding straw poll for candidates for governor, which would give Minnesotans an early indication of their choices to run state government and its more than 30,000 employees. Results of those straw polls were not available by the time this edition went to press.

In addition to the straw poll for governor, participants discussed and voted on potential party platforms and elected delegates and alternates to upcoming regional and state political conventions. Given the open governor’s race, two U.S. Senate races, a number of hotly contested congressional races, other statewide offices including attorney general, and the battle for control of the state House, Minnesota is likely to be the scene of intense political competition as the country prepares for the first nationwide elections in the era of President Donald Trump.

“I kind of feel obligated to be here — either that or stop complaining,” said Corlyss Affeldt, 75, who was at a Republican caucus meeting at Eden Prairie High School. “This is the only place you can make a difference

Affeldt, recently retired from the insurance industry, said he was most interested in the governor’s race: “I’m hoping for some direction.”

Both political parties share that focus on the governor’s race. If the Republicans win, they would likely control both the legislative and executive branches of government for the first time in more than half a century.

The DFL is terrified of that prospect, especially as the 2020 census nears, after which the party in power will be able to redraw congressional and legislative district lines in their favor. If the DFL can keep the seat that retiring Gov. Mark Dayton has held for two terms, the party could continue to position the state in opposition to the Trump agenda.

Jim Hall said the current political climate, which he called “on the brink of authoritarianism and fascism,” drew him to the DFL caucus at Falcon Ridge Middle School in Apple Valley. He and his wife caucused once for Bill Clinton, he said. Both are attorneys who became more politically active this last year, including marching in rallies and parades.

Sue Hall said that though she’s left-leaning generally, she’s been open-minded in the past and proudly voted for Arne Carlson for governor.

“In the last year I’ve definitely been pushed (into the DFL),” Sue Hall said. “There’s no way I would ever vote Republican now.”

The campaigns organized for months before caucus night to ensure their supporters were elected Tuesday to go to regional conventions. From there they’ll hope to be elected to the state conventions, where delegates will officially endorse their favorites.

In the governor’s race, a large and well-funded DFL field includes former St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman; Reps. Tina Liebling, Erin Murphy and Paul Thissen; State Auditor Rebecca Otto; and, U.S. Rep. Tim Walz.

Major declared candidates on the Republican side include former GOP official Keith Downey, Hennepin County Commissioner Jeff Johnson and Woodbury Mayor Mary Giuliani Stephens.

Former Gov. Tim Pawlenty inserted himself into the caucus events Tuesday, announcing earlier in the day that he is stepping down as chairman of the Financial Services Roundtable, a Washington, D.C. banking lobbying group.

Pawlenty, the last Republican to win a statewide race, is mulling a run for a third term of his old job. His entry would scramble the Republican race, and his political brand could help the GOP overcome a possible drag by Trump’s low poll numbers. Sahal Barre, a 32-year-old Minneapolis man caucusing with the DFL on the University of Minnesota campus, said he supports DFL Rep. Ilhan Omar — but also Pawlenty.

“If he doesn’t run, I’ll go to Erin Murphy,” Barre said.

At Eden Prairie High School on Valley View Road, both Republicans and DFLers were caucusing. Clif Giese, 66, is a retiree who lives Minnetonka. His choice for governor is not even in the race yet: He’s rooting for Pawlenty to get in.

Madison Dibble, 21, a sociology major at the University of Minnesota and an officer with College Republicans there, signaled some of the ambivalence about the current Republican field.

“It doesn’t look like the field is quite settled yet,” she said. For now, she said, “I’m not passionate about one candidate or the other.”

Her priorities: Winning, and then, lower taxes.

DFLers at Eden Prairie High had sandwiches, drinks, chips and a bevy of volunteers, many of them young voters.

John Lindholm, a high school senior, lives in Eden Prairie and attends a Catholic school. This was his first caucus, and he will vote for first time in November. He’s currently interning for DFL congressional candidate Dean Phillips, who is poised to offer a tough challenge to U.S. Rep. Erik Paulsen, the Republican congressman from the area.

Lindholm grew up in Republican family, but he’s going his own way. “I thought maybe I’m not a Republican actually,” he said.

Jan Eian, 74 and an Eden Prairie resident, runs a small business with her husband. She’s still debating between Coleman and Walz for governor, but she likes all the candidates. “I really think the stakes are huge. We need to win Congress ... and it’s going to be difficult.”

Eian is concerned about women’s rights. “It would be a shame if we go backward on women’s issues.”

Her friend Pat Lind, 74, also of Eden Prairie, retired from teaching and corporate sales and training. She think it will be a good year for the DFL, “but everything changes every 14 seconds.”

She is motivated by environmental issues: “My top issue is really not to do anything more to damage the physical world and preventing climate change.”

Giese, the Republican caucusing in Eden Prairie, caucused for first time in 2016 to support President Trump. “Last time they weren’t supportive of Trump for president. I’m here to see if that’s changed,” he said of Minnesota Republicans, who gave Trump a third-place finish in the 2016 caucus. Trump, Giese said, is doing an “outstanding job. The main reason is he’s more honest than the rest of them.”

At Hennepin County Government Center in downtown Minneapolis, a small-business woman experienced the loneliness of being a Republican in the urban core — Julie Steller, 60, was the only participant in her caucus.

She owns her own business, called Steller Handcrafted Goods out of her home in Elliot Park. “It’s sort of a voice crying in the wilderness,” she said of being a Republican in Minneapolis.

Alan Shilepsky, 75, the convener of the caucus, empathized: “How long do you want to bang your head against a wall?”

For Eva Nubeck, 71 and a retired school social worker, the caucus is a great celebration of self-government: “I think caucuses are just a really cool thing. It’s where you get together with your neighbors ... and talk about issues, and demonstrate your willingness and interest to participate in the most grass roots of things in democracy.”

Star Tribune reporters Jessie Van Berkel, Judy Keen, Erin Adler, Miguel Otárola, and University of Minnesota students Trevor Squire, Ryan Faircloth, Emily Allen, Christopher Shea, Jeyca Maldonado-Medina and Kelly Busche all contributed to this story.