Rick Santorum Receives Support of Oakville Caucus

Four years ago, 32 people attended the Oakville Republican Township caucus. This year, a record 92 voters came out to discuss which delegates and candidates should represent the township at the state and congressional district conventions.

Committeeman Kurt Witzel said it was the first time in 16 years there’s been a caucus like this one. The caucus was held at Saturday morning. 

In the past, the Missouri primaries have been before the caucus, and delegates would follow whoever won.

“The only thing the caucuses really determined was who would go to the state and national convention,” Witzel said.

But the  was non-binding, leading political analysts to call it .

Santorum cruised to an easy 30-percentage point win over Mitt Romney, receiving more than half the Republican vote in the state.

For the caucus, Witzel said his committee prepared a slate that replicated the Oakville Township’s voting percentages in the primary.

Santorum earned 58 percent of the vote, so he earned 10 of the township’s 17 delegates. Mitt Romney received four delegates; Ron Paul, two and Newt Gingrich, one.

Witzel said 58 out of the 92 people present voted for the slate.

The chairman said the conversation was amicable and productive at the caucus, unlike in St. Charles, where the caucus was shut down after police arrested two people for trespassing.   

“It’s the first time we’ve experienced the caucus and we came out because we feel strongly about our particular candidate,” said Mary Jean Bronson, who attended with her husband, Ken. The couple said they supported Rick Santorum in the national race.

The 17 Oakville delegates will represent the township in the state and congressional district conventions.

The congressional convention will be April 21 at Lindbergh High School and will host all delegates from the townships in the second congressional district. There, participants will elect three delegates and three alternates to go to the national convention.

Witzel, who has been involved in politics most of his life and serves on the state committee, said he’s eager to see the primary play out.

“In my mind, I’m sort of in a quandary. I like the philosophy of Rick Santorum, but from a campaign standpoint, Mitt Romney has the juice; he’s got organizations everywhere,” he said.