Republican Caucus Hits Mehlville and Oakville Saturday

After weeks of explanations and prognostications, caucus time is only a day away for most Republicans in the St. Louis area.

In most years, caucuses are simply a mechanism to approve delegates of whoever prevailed in the Republican primary. But due to the Missouri legislature not moving the primary date, the Missouri Republican Party decided to utilize caucuses as the mechanism to allocate delegates.

A . And the Missouri Republican Party put information about the event on its website.

St. Louis County is selecting delegates by township, and here are the local stops:

• Lemay: Royale Orleans, 2801 Telegraph Rd., St. Louis, MO 63125
• Oakville: Oakville Elementary School, 2911 Yaeger Rd., St. Louis, MO 63129
• Tesson Ferry: Concord Church, 13775 Tesson Ferry Rd., St. Louis, MO 63128 

By the way, Missouri Republican Party spokesman Jonathan Poutry sent out a missive to members of the media stating that the results of the caucus won’t likely be known right away.

“Unlike many other caucus states, there will not be a straw poll attached to the caucus. Caucus-goers will be voting for delegates, and with few exceptions, these delegates will not be bound to a particular candidate,” Poutry wrote. “Because there is no vote on candidate preference, neither the Missouri GOP nor any election authority will have or release any data regarding the ‘winner’ of the caucuses. Delegates selected at the county caucuses will elect and bind national delegates at the Congressional District Conventions on April 21 and the State Convention on June 2.”

Paul and Romney visit

Now that Missouri’s presidential contests actually count, candidates are starting to pay attention. earlier this week, while late last week.

Romney’s main rival, former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pennsylvania), campaigned in Springfield last Saturday.

Small Changes 

As predicted last week, a bipartisan commission gave approval to a state Senate map. That means that boundaries for state Senate districts are final, giving a bit of certainty to candidates seeking to serve in the Missouri General Assembly’s upper chambers.

“Today, the State Senate Reapportionment Commission filed finalized district maps with the Secretary of State’s office,” said Secretary of State Robin Carnahan in a statement Monday. “This action provides more clarity to state Senate candidates who were waiting to file or intended to file in one of the Senate districts created after the 2000 Census. All state Senate candidates have the option of withdrawing and re-filing in one of the districts approved by the reapportionment commission.”

“Any candidate who wishes to run for office in one of the finalized districts should make sure they come to the Missouri Secretary of State’s office and file by 5 p.m. on March 27,” she added.

Commissioners made minor changes to the tentative proposal. In addition to minor changes to the boundary between the 13th and 14th Senate Districts, the biggest change was placing more of Clayton in to Sen. Joe Keaveny’s district.

In the tentative map, the entire city was placed in the 14th District. Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal (D-University City) currently represents that district.

The Associated Press also reported this week that opponents of the map decided to drop a lawsuit aimed at resurrecting a prior plan that was declared unconstitutional by the Missouri Supreme Court.

Su-spence?

It’s March Madness, and that means it’s become trendy for politicians to predict who they will go far in the NCAA Men’s Basketball tournament.

President Barack Obama, who is well-known to have a passion for basketball, released a bracket earlier this week that included the beloved Missouri Tigers in the Final Four. 

Also getting into the pick 'em spirit is Dave Spence, a Frontenac Republican running for governor. His campaign released a bracket that had Mizzou winning it all, and Saint Louis University making it to the Elite Eight.

By the way, intrepid politico Eli Yokley tweeted a few days ago that Gov. Jay Nixon, who could be Spence’s opponent later this year, wouldn’t divulge his Final Four picks.