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Capitol View®
Catharine Richert

Straw poll results starting to trickle in

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Across Minnesota tonight, voters  gathered at more than 4,000 caucus sites to make their unofficial picks for who should be on the ballot this fall.

Turnout was generally reported to be light, most likely on par with typical years when between 10,000 and 20,000 people show up for on each side GOP and DFL caucuses statewide.  Republicans took straw polls to try to determine early preferences among candidates for governor and U.S. Senate. The results aren't binding, but could provide a hint about which campaigns are best organized at this early stage.

The results were slowly coming in and are being posted on the state Republican Party's website.

There are no straw polls on the DFL side because Gov. Mark Dayton and Sen. Al Franken are seeking re-election.

The caucuses are the first step in determining which candidates the parties will nominate. In late May, delegates to the state party conventions will meet to endorse statewide candidates, but several of the GOP candidates in both the gubernatorial and senate races have said they are willing to challenge the endorsed candidate in the August primary election.

Meanwhile, there is an intra-party battle going on in state Senate District 51 that mirrors national divisions within the Republican party.

There, Republican David Gerson is once again seeking to challenge incumbent U.S. Rep. John Kline.

Gerson says that Kline isn't conservative enough, and points to the fact that Kline voted to raise the debt ceiling while in Congress. Gerson's campaign is chaired by Marianne Stebbins, who was 2012 presidential candidate Ron Paul's Minnesota chairwoman.

MPR News reporter Mark Zdechlik spoke with caucus-goer Paul Illsley of Eagan, who supports Gerson.

"I like his idea on being more as to what the constitution says," Illsley said. "I feel that the Republican party has moved away from the people.”

Gerson lost a primary campaign in 2012 to Kline, and plans to drop out if he doesn't win the endorsement.

Kline was in Washington Tuesday night.