Creve Coeur Caucus Cram Session

Saturday will mark the first time in years that Missouri Republicans have used the caucus system to help determine which presidential candidate will receive the state's 52 delegates.

It's a process that starts today, continues next Saturday in St. Louis City and the Kansas City area, and won't be completed until the congressional district-level convention in April and the state GOP convention in June.

Creve Coeur GOP Township Chair Neal Breitweiser said Missouri Republicans use the caucus sytem every four years to choose convention delegates, so that's nothing new. The political back and forth last year which ultimately rendered last month's primary meaningless as far as the delegate count has made the rest of the process something of an adventure.

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The "rules are playing out in real time," Breitweiser said.

So too, are changes brought on by the congressional redistricting process. Breitweiser said earlier this week he received 20 calls in a single day from people who needed help figuring out in which township they now lived. The entire city of Creve Coeur is located in Creve Coeur Township, but the caucus will be held in Maryland Heights.

Township Republicans will gather at in Westport, starting at 10 a.m. Saturday.

Where's My Township?

For a list of townships and their caucus locations, click here

Breitweiser said the first job is to elect a caucus chair. Next up is to elect a slate of delegates to the congressional district level convention in April. In the case of Creve Coeur Township, that means selecting 11 delegates (2 for the 1st Congressional District, 9 for the 2nd).

The delegates selected Saturday do not need to declare for a presidential candidate, although they can do so. Breitweiser said he's been in touch with representatives for Mitt Romney, who have said the campaign will be active in every township.

As of this writing, the Santorum campaign is the only one of the four remaining candidates making plans to visit St. Louis County township caucuses, but not Creve Coeur. 

Breitweiser said the entire process Saturday could take as little as an hour or as long as 4 hours. The piece of business apt to take up the most time isn't the delegate selection process, but instead voting on and making amendments to the .

The St. Patrick's Day holiday was enough for some Republican caucuses to move to another day. It will also be the first Saturday of the NCAA basketball tournament, which could leave some people with a decision to make. But Breitweiser said he expects a "dramatic increase" in turnout this year because of the presidential stakes. In 2008 he said roughly 29 people participated. He expects between 50-60 on Saturday.

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