MN Caucus Redux

I was surprised at the number of 'others' votes for Secretary of State and State Auditor. Wonder what it means? Have the candidates been working the area, doing mailings, or, could it be not much attention has been given to either of these positions through the media? Party activist need to roll up their sleeves, lots more work to be done:

Secretary of State

Christian Sande 15.4
Dick Franson 5.4
Mark Ritchie 38.3
Undecided/other 40.9

State Auditor

Reggie Edwards 12.1
Rebecca Otto 46.8
Undecided/other 41.1

Comments

Anonymous said…
its not that surprising that there were that many undecideds in these races, people just are not focused on them yet. What these results mean though, the winners here are Mark Ritchie and Rebecca Otto. If the undecideds split 50/50 they win, and odds are the undecideds will split in a similar way as the current distribution between the candidates. This will insure Ritchie's and Otto's victory.
9:29 AM
Anonymous said…
This "ballot drop-off" is the classic result for these two down-ballot races in MN. This occurs because they have less than 1/10th the spending limit of the Governor's race, so they are less able to get their message out, which is an outrage considering how critical the offices are. The votes they garnered are from the most active in the party, who they have been courting. The undecideds are voters that just turned out for caucuses and hadn't been paying much attention before then. The threat is that this same ballot drop-off can happen in general elections, so it's possible that the incumbent republicans Mary Kiffmeyer and Pat Awada could be re-elected even if we turn over governor and ag. The top of the ticket races are all going to be well-funded and well-supported by the 527s. The most important thing the party and individual activists can do to strengthen the ticket overall is to volunteer and give heavily to the candidates of their choice in these down-ballot races so they can make certain they have enough money and organizational resources to overcome ballot dropoff.
9:37 AM
Anonymous said…
If the SOS candidates and the Auditor candidates were being smart, they were focusing their limited funds on mailings to likely delegates. I know the people in my Rural MN caucus who (1) didn't have email and (2) haven’t been to the state convention in quite some time, had the least information about these caucuses.

Keeping in mind the idea that a smart campaign targets likely state delegates, I think these numbers are significant.


Keeping in mind the fact that a smart campaign targets likely state delegates, I think these numbers are significant.
4:31 PM
mnsky said…
I guess my worry is that thier is a drop off and these great candidates (whichever ones get endorsed) won't get the media or coverage they should. Both positions are important yet we know that they will take a second seat to other positions like daytons seat or governor. I know we talk about targeting delegates but does that mean they didn't? I know in my area both were actively contacting delegates. So are the delegates just not paying attention to these positions or the candidates or a mix of the two. While there was obvious winners, how will that play out after the endorsement? This split is only good now not if it also plays into the fall...at least not among Democratic voters.
6:40 PM
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