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Super Tuesday brought out super turnout in caucus meetings statewide, and that trend also held true in Rock County where caucus-goers turned out in record numbers.
“It was chaotic,” said Jane Wildung Lanphere, secretary-treasurer of the Rock County Republican Party, which registered 194 voters for preference ballots and accommodated 225 participants total.
“In all my life of caucusing that’s by far the greatest turnout we’ve ever had,” Lanphere said. “Over 50 percent — maybe even 70 percent — had never attended a caucus before.”
First-time caucus-goers didn’t recognize chaos; the disorganization simply created an energy that many, like Matt and Katie Van Grootheest, wanted to be part of.
“A lot of people claim your vote doesn’t count,” Matt Van Grootheest said. “But it’s not necessarily true; all these votes add up.”
The young couple with a brand new baby admitted they were unfamiliar with the caucus process, but they were there to observe and learn about the process and the candidates, including billionaire and television personality Donald Trump.
“I do like the fact that he’s outspoken,” Van Grootheest said about Trump, “but it’s hard to know if it’s just the comedian factor to throw everyone for a loop or if he’s really serious.”
The Trump factor was hard to avoid in the room where Larry Lanphere sported a red and white “Make America Great” signature Trump cap.
He was assisting with Tuesday night’s Republican caucus process but admitted he wasn’t sure if he was a Democrat or Republican, due to his disappointment with Washington leadership in the past eight years.
Lanphere said he’s supporting Trump for a few key reasons. First, he said the other Republican candidates are too young, too dishonest or too ineffective.
“I just want something different,” Larry Lanphere said. “[Trump]’s stirred up a lot of young people’s interest in politics again.”
Kenneth and Gloria Kashner, pastors at First Assembly of God Church, moved to Luverne seven years ago from Massachusetts where there are no caucuses.
“I just want to have a voice in it and hear what other people have to say,” Kenneth Kashner said at Tuesday’s Republican caucus.
Gloria said, “It’s a very serious time in our nation and we want to do our part.”
Regardless of the reasons for Tuesday night’s caucus chaos, Jane Lanphere said the record turnout bodes well for the political process.
“There’s a lot of interest in trying to decide who our candidate should be,” she said. “It’s wonderful that people are interested and at least feel they can effect change.”
Lanphere said about 70 people participated in Rock County’s 2014 Republican caucus, and that was considered a good turnout.
By comparison, the 2016 event drew three times that number, a record-breaker by all accounts.
Rock County DFL Party
also sees heavy turnout
Rock County’s DFL caucus attracted half as many people as the local Republican event with 110 participants at the Senior Center in Luverne.
But that’s still a good turnout, according to Rock County DFL Party Chairman Dale Moerke, especially considering only 16 people attended in 2014 (when DFL Gov. Dayton was elected).
“We definitely had a lot of new people, young and old,” said Moerke. “A lot of them I’ve never seen before, so that was encouraging,”
Perhaps fueled by fear that Trump could get the GOP endorsement, Moerke said there’s renewed interest in politics in both parties.
“They don’t want to have a Trump,” he said. “The silver lining — if there is one — is that it might help inspire new voters to get out because they don’t want to see him win.”
The Trump campaign aside, Moerke said there’s a renewed interest in grassroots politics.
“People are energized; they want to see change, no matter which candidate they choose,” he said. “It energizes me when we see that many people who want to participate; otherwise you feel like you’re the only one doing anything.”
Of the 102 registered DFL voters, they split their preference ballots evenly between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders.
“I thought it would be lopsided in Hillary’s favor,” Moerke said.
“We’re pretty conservative, so thought the socialist guy wouldn’t do very well here. … It just goes to show you a lot people aren’t satisfied with the status quo.”
Straw poll votes at precinct caucuses influence
how many delegates each candidate receives.
•The state GOP convention is May 20-21 in Duluth.
•The state DFL convention is June 4 in Minneapolis.
•The national GOP convention is July 18-21 in Cleveland
•The national DFL convention is July 25-29 in Philadelphia
At the national conventions, the parties choose nominees
for president and vice president of the United States
What’s next for the 2016 Election?
•May 17-31 is the candidate filing period for
open seats in all units of government
•June 24: Minnesotans can begin early voting
and absentee voting for the primary election
•Aug. 9: Primary Election Day
•Sept. 23: Minnesotans can begin early voting
and absentee voting for the General Election
•Nov. 8: General Election Day
ROCK COUNTY REPUBLICAN RESULTS
DR. BEN CARSON 18
TED CRUZ 91
JOHN R. KASICH 9
MARCO RUBIO 43
DONALD J. TRUMP 33
ROCK COUNTY DFL RESULTS
HILLARY CLINTON 51
BERNIE SANDERS 51
MINNESOTA REPUBLICAN RESULTS
Totals Percent
DR. BEN CARSON 8,150 7.33
TED CRUZ 32,344 29.07
JOHN R. KASICH 6,410 5.76
MARCO RUBIO 40,375 36.29
DONALD J. TRUMP 23,770 21.37
WRITE-IN 204 0.18
MINNESOTA DFL RESULTS
Totals Percent
HILLARY CLINTON 66,256 37.61
BERNIE SANDERS 108,443 61.56
OTHER 0.83
More election information is available on the
Secretary of State website at mnvotesinfo@sos.mn.us