ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - A group of Iowans participated in what had to be their warmest caucus ever in St. Petersburg Monday.
The St. Andrew Lutheran Church on 62nd Avenue in St. Petersburg was one of four satellite locations in Florida where Iowans could participate in the first-in-the-nation, first-of-its-kind caucus.
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Iowans in St. Pete attend first-ever satellite caucus
Evan Axelbank reports
Snowbirds and vacationers packed in to select their favorite candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination.
120 people registered to take part and 106 showed up.
Amy Klobuchar was chosen by a landslide with 48 caucus-goers in her corner when all was said and done.
"We have to get this president out of office," said Ruth Beiner. "She has proven she can work across the aisle. She's smart, is hopefully going to bring our country back to a middle place."
Coming in a distant second was Mayor Pete Buttigieg, with 21 supporters; 18 chose Elizabeth Warren and 17 chose Joe Biden.
Because of the way the caucus rules work, Bernie Sanders and Andrew Yang wound up with zero, but on the first run-through, Bernie had seven.
Easily the number one issue on the minds of this group was finding a Democrat who can beat Donald Trump.
"Our country is headed in a terrible direction with a terrible leader," said Paul Novak, who initially caucused for Bernie Sanders, but chose Elizabeth Warren on the second alignment. "This is our opportunity. We all feel it is just about a life-or-death situation."
This is the first time Iowans have been able to caucus if they were out of town.
"Previously, only people who had time to go could go. People who were working couldn't go. People who had babies and kids and so forth couldn't go, so this makes it much better."
"It does give much more opportunity for people to take part in it. I hope next time they do it they have more sites than we do now. There is always a learning curve. It'll be maybe slightly better organized next time."
There are 27 satellite locations, including the four in Florida, and they will all be added up as if they are one precinct.
“Every four years, we take it very seriously. We have a big responsibility," said Donna Winter, the organizer of the St. Petersburg caucus. "This year, Iowans feel a greater weight because of who is in the White House right now and the consequence if he would get to stay there.”
Iowans who were in Florida said holding satellite caucuses was an excellent idea because it promoted wider participation.
“Given we are staying two miles from here, it’s incredibly convenient," said Larry Nelson, who was visiting from Cedar Rapids. "We did our civic duty and met all the candidates, paid attention. We have to take it to the final step.”
From this gathering, Klobuchar got four points towards selecting delegates, while Buttigieg and Warren got two and Biden got one.