Battle for Minnesota's Feb. 7 Caucus is Heating Up

It's easy to tell that Minnesota's caucuses are less than a week away.

Television ads are getting airtime locally, and Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney was just up the road in Eagan on Feb. 1, making a campaign stop at a local trucking company. Rick Santorum even visited the state last week.

The race for Minnesota's delegates may not mean as much as it once could have, however. Newt Gingrich has all but said he's conceding Minnesota, and Jan. 26 favorability poll on Gingrich from Public Policy Polling shows a 60 percent unfavorable rating, with just 27 percent having a favorable view of the former speaker.

Meanwhile, Minnesota’s major political parties—DFL, Independence and Republican—announced the sites of their respective precinct caucuses.

Caucus sites for Lakeville residents include:

• DFL—All Lakeville precincts will caucus at , 21135 Jacquard Ave. For more information about the Senate District 36 DFL, click here.

• Independence—A caucus for the entire Second Congressional District, which includes all of Lakeville, will be hosted by a delegate in Apple Valley. The Independence Party website says more details will be available later this month. For more information about the Independence Party, click here.

• Republican (GOP)—All Lakeville precincts will caucus at , 19600 Ipava Ave. For more information about the Senate District 36 GOP, click here.

In Minnesota, the DFL, Independence and Republican parties are considered major parties. For the definitions of major and minor political parties in Minnesota, click here.

All caucuses begin at 7 p.m.

WHAT'S A CAUCUS?

A caucus helps a political party gain consensus as to how voters have aligned their political and candidate preferences.

But at a caucus, there’s more going on than just candidate selection. Participants sometimes select county committee chairs that go to a state—and sometimes national—convention.

What distinguishes a caucus from a primary is that at a primary, voters don’t have to be present at one particular location at a specific time. For a primary, voters just go to their polling place and cast a vote, the same as they would do at a general election.

For a caucus, you have to be physically present at your designated caucus site, register, show your party affiliation and then participate in the process. Attendees participate directly.

To take part in a caucus, you must be eligible to vote in the 2012 general election and live in the precinct.

Each party has its own rules and guidelines it follows.

Additional caucus information—including a caucus finder—can be found on the Minnesota Secretary of State website by clicking here.