Romney Wins New Hampshire; Minnesota, Lakeville Caucuses Coming

Gov. Mitt Romney won the New Hampshire primary tonight, and with the U.S. Presidential election season now in full swing, it looks more and more like Minnesota will have a prominent role in selecting the Republican party's nominee to run for the White House.

As our , Romney easily won the New Hampshire primary election on Jan. 10. with Congressman Ron Paul finishing a closer than expected second, a little more than 13 percentage points behind. Gov. John Huntsman finished third. Iowa caucus surprise finisher Sen. Rick Santorum finished a ways back, some 26 points behind Romney. The numbers aren't a final total as precincts are still reporting results.

Lakeville residents will get a chance to be a part of presidential primary season in about a month, as Minnesota holds its primary—also a caucus—on Feb. 7. Minnesota is roughly seventh in line on the primary/caucus calendar.

With nominees dwindling after each state selects its nominee, Minnesota could be poised to be a major decision maker in the race.

As for tonight, when Romney addressed the crowd at Southern New Hampshire University the race had been called in his favor, the former Massachusetts governor set his sights squarely on President Barack Obama.

"The last few years have offered a lot of change but not a lot of hope," Romney told supporters, later saying, "We know it must be better and it will be better."

The vote was primarily a Republican affair, as Democrats across the country will be nominating President Obama for a second term in the White House.

As for Feb. 7, there will be multiple caucus sites across Lakeville, and you can see where yours is by visiting the Secretary of State's website.

Local information can also be found at Second Congressional District Republican website, and the Senate Disctrict 36 Republicans website.

Not sure what a caucus is?

A caucus helps a party gain consensus as to how voters are trying to align their political and candidate preferences. Also, at a caucus, there’s more going on than just candidate selection. Participants sometimes select county committee chairs that in turn go to a state convention and, in some cases, a national convention.

What distinguishes a caucus from a primary is at a primary, voters don’t have to be present at one particular location at a specific time. Voters just go to their polling place and cast a vote, the same as they would do at a general election.

For a caucus you have to be physically present at wherever your designated caucus site will be, register, show your party affiliation and then participate in the process.

The caucus is very much a grassroots thing because it requires direct participation of those who are (attending it). Depending on your voter registration, you can either go to the Democratic caucus or Republican caucus. Each party has its own rules, its own set of guidelines they follow.