(The Center Square) – Minnesota officially kicked off the election season Tuesday night with both major parties holding party caucuses and conducted straw polls for the governor’s election.
Results are still trickling, but there are clear frontrunners.
On the Republican side, House Speaker Lisa Demuth is leading the gubernatorial straw poll with 32% of the vote. Businessman Kendall Qualls is in second with 25%, My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell has 17%, and former state senator Scott Jenson has 8%.
It’s a crowded field for Republicans, with 12 candidates running for governor. Of the 14,000 votes currently reported (73%), 854 voters listed themselves as undecided.
President Donald Trump has endorsed Lindell in the race.
Both Republicans and Democrats saw unusually high turnouts, which were fueled by the high political tensions currently in the state as it makes national headlines for fraud investigations, federal immigration enforcements, and protests.
The Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party reported at least 30,000 attendees at its caucus locations.
“Minnesotans turned out in historic numbers to exercise their democratic rights at precinct caucuses,” said DFL Party Chair Richard Carlbom. “Tonight is more proof that we will never stop fighting for our neighbors.”
The Democrats have yet to report any straw poll results, though U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar is expected to lead. A recent poll from SurveyUSA also had her leading the Republican in a general election by 16 points.
This comes after Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, announced in January he would not be seeking reelection.
While a critical part of Minnesota’s election process, party caucuses and straw polls are just the first step to Election Day.
The caucuses are party-run neighborhood meetings that serve as an early organizing step in the election season. There, delegates for the party conventions are selected, momentum is gathered behind frontrunners, and straw polls are held to help the party decide where to allocate resources.
Both parties will have their official nominating conventions in May, primaries will be in August, and the general election is still 272 days away.
