Chesterfield Caucus Cram Session for Saturday 10AM

This 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 Saturday, 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.

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I spoke with Neal Breitweiser, a County GOP Committeeman.

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.

Registered Chesterfield Republicans will meet at Westminster Christian Academy, 800 Maryville Centre Dr. 63017 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. 

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 Mitt Romney's camp, who have said the campaign will be active in every township.

He heard several months ago from Newt Gingrich's campaign, and has not heard anything from Rick Santorum or Ron Paul, although he expects Paul's campaign to file a slate of delegates.

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 on Saturday 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. 

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