John Marty Wins Gubernatorial Preference Ballot within Rice County
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Rice County’s Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL) announced Tuesday evening that State Senator John Marty won its Gubernatorial Preference poll.
There were eleven candidates and an uncommitted option for those who attended caucus to choose from. Senator Marty came out on top with 29.9% of the eligible votes; finishing second was Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak with 21.2% of the votes; and in third was Margaret Anderson Kelliher with 10.8% of the votes.
“This year we have many impressive gubernatorial candidates that are in touch with issues and concerns of the voters. Many of the candidates have made numerous stops in our county during the last year. We are excited that Rice County continues its tradition of being able to attract candidates and it shows the important role we play within the party.”
~ Dr. Therese Barnett
Rice County DFL Chair
Other important activities took place at tonight’s caucuses with elections of delegates for the county and Senate District conventions, precinct chairs and the passing of numerous resolutions for the party’s platform process.
“It was great to see the enthusiasm from our caucus attendees. We’re all excited to be involved and are looking forward to building a strong community of Progressives,” said Shawn Groth, Rice County DFL Associate Chair.
The next step for those elected as delegates will be to attend the Rice County DFL convention, which will be held at the Faribault Middle School on Saturday, March 6 at 8:30 am. Business at the convention will include electing state delegates and party officers.
| Gubernatorial Preference Ballot Results: | |
|---|---|
| Marty | 29.9% |
| Rybak | 21.2% |
| Anderson Kelliher | 10.8% |
| Uncommitted | 10.4% |
| Entenza | 8.3% |
| Thissen | 7.2% |
| Rukavina | 3.2% |
| Bakk | 2.9% |
| Kelley | 2.2% |
| Gaertner | 1.1% |
| Montez | 0.4% |
| Savior | 0.4% |
| 2% of the eligible voters chose not to vote. | |
For state-wide DFL, GOP, and other results, the Secretary of State has the most up to date information. (As of this time not all precincts have reported in, but it looks like Marty Seifert and Tom Emmer are the only viable GOP candidates, while the DFL side is a bit less clear, particularly since Senator Mark Dayton kept his name off the ballots, announcing his intent to stay in the race through the primary.)
In every contest, there are winners and losers … so often the focus is on the score instead of the lessons to be learned; understanding what happened; and can it happen again.
ReplyDeleteAssuming that 278 people were offered ballots in the Rice County Straw Poll, then Marty got 83; Rybak got 59, MAK 30, Uncommitted 29; Entenza 23, Thissen 20 and the rest below 10 votes.
Two questions :
1.) Why didn’t MAK resonate better ? Was this her worst showing ?
2.) Why did Marty do so well here … did his campaign appearances at Carlton College help … much like Tom Bakk visit to Mankato may have helped him in his strong showing there.
The message is obvious, as much as the candidates have appeared at numerous forums, the endorsed candidate is going to have to spend a lot of time in local meet-and-greets.
Marty's son, as one of only four "proxy" appearances by a gubernatorial candidate at the Northfield Caucus, gave an eloquent and persuasive endorsement to his father. Combined with a potential GOTV effort among his peers at Carleton I'm sure Micah had a very tangible impact on the Rice County straw poll, as evidenced by the difference between Faribault totals and those in Northfield.
ReplyDeleteVoters do prefer to support a candidate they feel a personal connection to, rather than merely a resonance on important issues.