Romney Edges Santorum in Edina Caucuses

Mitt Romney edged out Rick Santorum at Edina's caucuses, collecting 280 votes to Santorum's 257 from the city's 20 precincts.

The two finished ahead of Ron Paul and Newt Gingrich, who respectively took home 173 and 70 votes.

First-time caucus-goers Deb and Mike Conover said it was pure curiosity that prompted them to attend Tuesday's caucuses. They've lived in Edina for 14 years.

"We had no idea what to expect," Deb said. "We decided to come to find out what people are feeling about the Republican candidates."

Edina Republicans were shepherded to various parts of Tuesday to take part in caucuses, with some wrapping things up within an hour and others taking closer to two hours to complete everything.

This year marked the seventh time Lynn Swon, co-chair of the Senate District 41 GOP, has helped coordinate caucuses for Edina residents. Swon said turnout in some precincts was as strong as in 2008, but in others was as low as 2010.

"You would think it would be more consistent across the board," Swon said.

Edina resident Jay Smith helped tally votes for Edina's 10th precinct, where Santorum bested Romney 18 votes to 16. Smith said things went "pretty smooth this year," with no attendees proposing any additions to the Republican platform.

Smith said caucus night allows him to both see "a few familiar faces" as well as get a better feel for where fellow Republicans in the area stand. He wasn't surprised Santorum managed to secure his precinct, as he had heard "Santorum was doing a little better in the Midwest."

"I kind of felt he's been one who really hasn't got a lot of media attention because they keep beating on the others," Smith said.

Edina legislators Keith Downey and Geoff Michel were both on hand for the festivities, stopping in at every precinct to say a few words about the importance of the 2012 election along the way.

"This is the absolute grassroots of democracy, right here," Downey said. "It's a lot of fun. There are those who argue that a primary process would be cleaner, but this is kind of the absolute neighborhood grassroots of political organizing and activism."

Edina GOP Caucus Results

Hungry for more statistics? See a precinct-by-precinct breakdown of GOP caucus results .