Romney Wins Iowa Caucus, But When's Lakeville's Chance to Vote?

The U.S. Presidential election season became official last night as the state of Iowa held the first caucuses of the year.

And as our sister Patch in Iowa City is reporting, Mitt Romney beat Rick Santorum by a . Texas Congressman Ron Paul finished a close third.

Further back in the field, Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann finished a rather distant sixth-place, but vowed to continue in the race. Newt Gingrich finished fourth, and Gov. Rick Perry finished fifth. John Huntsman finished last.

The caucuses were primarily a Republican affair, as Democrats across the country will be nominating incumbent President Barack Obama for a second term in the White House.

Lakeville residents will get a chance to be a part of presidential primary season in about a month, as Minnesota holds its primary—also a caucus—on Feb. 7. Minnesota is roughly seventh in line on the primary/caucus calendar.

There will be multiple caucus sites across Lakeville, and you can see where yours is by visiting the Secretary of State's website.

Local information can also be found at Second Congressional District Republican website, and the Senate Disctrict 36 Republicans website.

Not sure what a caucus is?

A caucus helps a party gain consensus as to how voters are trying to align their political and candidate preferences. Also, at a caucus, there’s more going on than just candidate selection. Participants sometimes select county committee chairs that in turn go to a state convention and, in some cases, a national convention.

What distinguishes a caucus from a primary is at a primary, voters don’t have to be present at one particular location at a specific time. 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 wherever your designated caucus site will be, register, show your party affiliation and then participate in the process.

The caucus is very much a grassroots thing because it requires direct participation of those who are (attending it). Depending on your voter registration, you can either go to the Democratic caucus or Republican caucus. Each party has its own rules, its own set of guidelines they follow.