ST. PAUL -- Two state representatives appeared poised to move away from other Republican governor candidates and a pair of well-known Democrats were battling for bragging rights Tuesday night as Minnesotans attending more than 8,000 neighborhood meetings began picking their favorites.
Rep. Marty Seifert of Marshall led Rep. Tom Emmer of Delano in a GOP precinct caucus straw poll. With 63 percent of the precincts counted, Seifert had 52 percent to Emmer's 37 percent in unofficial results; five other official candidates and write-ins took the rest of the votes.
Things were not as clear on the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party side, although Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak and House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher of Minneapolis each had about 20 percent of the vote with 61 percent of precincts in.
Things were not as clear on the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party side, although Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak and House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher of Minneapolis each had about 20 percent of the vote with 66 percent of precincts in.
In the field of 11 Democrats state Rep. Tom Rukavina of Virginia and state Sen. John Marty of Roseville were just short of 10 percent. Former state Rep. Matt Entenza of St. Paul, state Sen. Tom Bakk of Cook and state Rep. Paul Thissen of Minneapolis were slightly behind.
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About 15 percent of Democrats were not committed to a candidate, in early results.
The straw polls were not binding. Complete results were not expected until early today.
Seifert was pleased with early results and said it appeared to make the Republican contest a two-man race. The Marshall Republican was doing well in the rural western areas, and said he needed to hold his own in the Twin Cities area.
To Seifert, the straw poll was very important.
"The reality is, these are the folks who will now pick the candidate on April 30," Seifert said. "The reality is this is the new electorate."
On the DFL side, Rybak and Kelliher were being cautious, both Minneapolis politicians touting their support outside the Twin Cities.
"It shows that people are connecting with us in every corner of Minnesota , from Duluth to Hutchinson to Minnetonka to Eagan," Rybak said.
Kelliher said her campaign staff and volunteers reported that she, Bakk and Rukavina were doing well in rural areas, but did not know if Tuesday's poll would narrow the field.
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"I think everybody is pretty committed to this competitive race," she added.
Her campaign is pleased, Kelliher said. "We feel good about this showing in the straw poll."
Another state representative also was happy, although he was not finishing first.
"I said all along I had a good feeling in my gut I would do good in this election," Rukavina said, and he remained in the second tier of candidates, in the third or fourth position, most of the night.
He admitted he "did better than most people expected," attributing that to being "the blue collar, ordinary person. I have said from the beginning that I have walked in a lot of shoes."
Rukavina said that he has a good chance of gaining on Kelliher and Rybak with so many uncommitted delegates.
Reports from around Minnesota indicated many precincts had an average or below average turnout, and much below that of two years ago. That was when both major parties' caucuses attracted record turnouts, mostly thanks to a heated presidential contest.
Former U.S. Sen. Mark Dayton asked that his name not be on the caucus straw poll ballot, saying he thinks the public voting in a primary election should determine a party's nominee.
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Besides Dayton, Gaertner said she will run in a primary election and Entenza has hinted that he will.
That means the DFL contest will drag out until August, when this year's primary election is expected to be held. Republicans, other than long-shot Davis, promise to go along with their party's April convention endorsement, giving the GOP candidate more than three months' head start on the eventual Democratic nominee.
Before the caucuses, Seifert and Emmer were thought to be the GOP leaders, with Hann coming in a distant third. A straw poll during an October Republican convention set the early order and polls some counties have done little to change it, other than show that Emmer was gaining on leader Seifert.
-- Davis reports for Forum Communications Co.
