Members of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party pass out agenda and resolution sheets around during a precinct caucus at Capitol Hill Magnet School in St. Paul on Tuesday, March 1, 2016. (Pioneer Press: Holly Peterson)

Bernie Sanders defeated Hillary Clinton amid massive turnout at Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party precinct caucuses across Minnesota on Tuesday.

The Associated Press and several other media outlets called the race for the Vermont senator before 10:30 p.m. He had held a double-digit lead most of the night as results trickled in.

State DFL Chairman Ken Martin called it “a very decisive victory.” He and most other DFL leaders had backed Clinton, but he said Minnesota is a progressive state and Sanders is a progressive politician.

Martin said it appeared that Sanders would win each of the state’s eight congressional districts.

(AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
(AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

His wins in Minnesota and three other states may enable him to live to fight another day, albeit facing a difficult path to the Democratic nomination.

Clinton, the former secretary of state, widened her lead for the Democratic presidential nomination with a string of wins in six southern states plus Massachusetts.


Across Minnesota, packed rooms, traffic jams and blocks-long lines of voters waiting to get in were the order of the evening. Turnout could top the 2008 DFL record of 220,000 voters.

Before the caucuses, Sanders had said a large turnout would favor him because he appeals to more first-time voters.

While he built a solid lead, many caucuses were closely divided. In one Eagan precinct, Mayor Mike Maguire said via Twitter that the vote was 75 for Clinton, 75 for Sanders and three undecided.

With 71 percent of the ballots counted, Sanders was winning 46 of Minnesota’s elected Democratic National Convention delegates to Clinton’s 31, Martin said. The DFL also will send to the convention 16 superdelegates who are not bound by caucus voting — top DFL Party and elected officials, mostly committed to Clinton.

In a typical caucus night scene, people lined up in the cold outside Woodbury High School before the doors opened.

Lisa Litchfield, 56, of Woodbury walked in wearing a Bernie Sanders sticker. “Bernie is speaking for me,” she said. “I am middle-class and affected by the downturn. I want a woman president, but I am not going to vote for Hillary.”

Frank Gillespie, 47, of Woodbury said he was leaning toward Clinton. “She is better-qualified and has a better chance of winning. Bernie has a single focus, economic issues, and we need more than that.”

But his 18-year-old son, Frederick Jr., said he is voting for Sanders. “He is focused on the most pressing issues of the day: the wealth gap.”

At the Capitol Hill Magnet School in St. Paul, one precinct ran out of sign-in sheets and printed ballots. Late arrivals wrote their names on blank sheets of paper and voted on torn slips of paper. Sanders carried the precinct, 207 votes to 68.

One voter at the school, Clinton supporter David Tomlinson, 40, said he had never caucused before but felt compelled to this year.

“My vote is going to Hillary Clinton because she’s the candidate that cares the most about people of color,” he said. “She also cares about racial justice, social justice, equality, police brutality. Police are abusing their power.”

“Bernie Sanders? What’s he done?” Tomlinson asked. “On the Republican side, none of them stand for people of color.”

At a classroom on the University of Minnesota’s Minneapolis campus, 30 minutes after one DFL caucus convened, a line of voters stretched out the door, down a hall and out the building. There were a lot of students and a lot of Sanders stickers.

“It’s really important for me to support Bernie. He needs young people like me,” said freshman Nicolle Weinstein of Lakeville. “You’re seeing the first generation that’s grown up with technology at our fingertips. We’re very politically aware, and we’re concerned. All I’m saying is this isn’t a big enough room.”

She arrived on a campus shuttle with a group of six friends, all Sanders supporters, all freshmen, and all ready to make a difference.

Clinton supporter George Rodriguez, a senior at the U, acknowledged that “Bernie has a catch with young voters, especially on campuses. I think he’s going to sweep.”

But Rodriguez feels assured by the former secretary of state’s background. “I like the idea of a president going into the White House and just being on top of it,” he said.

Lakeville South High School was another site where Democratic turnout exceeded expectations.

Lakeville resident Shaya Knopke went to her first caucus to support Sanders, who she feels gives a voice to people who typically feel marginalized in the political process.

“If you want to change the world, you have to get out and vote. Even the smallest voice matters,” Knopke said.

Rose Holten, a Clinton supporter, said she was more pragmatic with her vote. She believes Clinton is the Democratic Party’s best shot at keeping the White House.

“I think we need to be very pragmatic because we’re going to face a Republican onslaught. I love Bernie, though,” Holten said.


Clinton paid her fourth campaign visit to Minnesota just hours before the voting started. She made two stops in Minneapolis at a coffee shop and an international market to meet and greet voters and urge them to turn out for the caucuses.

Her appearances signaled the Democratic presidential race in Minnesota was highly competitive. Eleven states held Super Tuesday contests, and Minnesota was the only one she visited that day.

But Sanders paid even more attention to the North Star State in recent weeks. He held rallies in Hibbing on Friday and Rochester on Saturday and made a final stop in Minneapolis on Monday.

While Sanders was here more often, Clinton’s campaign was bolstered by high-profile surrogates, including daughter Chelsea Clinton, Gov. Mark Dayton and U.S. Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken. Sanders’ only big-name supporter in the state is Rep. Keith Ellison.

Both campaigns advertised heavily on Minnesota TV stations in recent weeks.

Then-candidate Barack Obama trounced Clinton in the 2008 Minnesota caucuses, and she responded by launching her campaign early this time and rounding up support from most of the DFL establishment.

Pioneer Press reporters Bob Shaw, Frederick Melo, Tory Cooney, Christopher Magan, Tad Vezner and David Montgomery and the Forum News Service contributed to this report.


  • George Orwell

    Socialism = Slavery.

    You work, others benefit.



      • D'On'ta'y Kuffar_Smiff

        Kenneth, I’m calling the PC Brownshirts! they will take Mr Orwell to the Diversity Gulag, where he will learn how the citizens of Red China and the USSR, along with Cubans, THRIVED! under Communism

        • patango

          These people think Vermont is in Western Europe lol ..When are the right wingers going to invade commie Canada and save the world from health care that works?

          • DavefromMinn

            Why do so many Canadians “suddenly” have health problems while on vacation in Florida? Answer….because our healthcare is much better than in Canada, so they come to the US to get treated.

          • D'On'ta'y Kuffar_Smiff

            the long waits to get health care in Canada are a sure sign of Socialist Efficiency, like the trains running on time in Italy, Komrade….

          • Highlander

            Strange, we gave a friend originally from Canada whose father has had major medical issues and from what his dad told us received excellent care that didn’t break their life savings paying for the surgery and aftercare. It was telling when he said how sorry he felt for for his son and other Americans.

          • racefan55448

            If the health care in Canada really works, why do so many in Canada come to the US to get health care?

      • racefan55448

        Bernie Sanders’ promise of free college is a lie. It is not free. Someone has to pay for it.

    • Stephanie Rivet

      Deregulated Capitalism = Wage Slavery.

      You work, billionaires benefit.

  • Stephanie Rivet

    What has Bernie Sanders done? You mean besides chain himself to a black woman 50 years ago to protest segregation while Hillary Clinton was working to elect a segregationist? Quite a lot more than you are probably aware of.

    • DavefromMinn

      As much as I fear the geriatric socialist being in charge of the country, I do have to agree with you. At least The Bern is an honest human. I take an upfront honest opponent over a slick in-it-for-herself politician any day.

      • Stephanie Rivet

        Thanks! I believe a significant majority of people in this great nation agree with you on that even if they aren’t yet aware of it.

  • Buffaboy

    Hahaha what a comments section.

    Bernie will sweep NY including the great city of Buffalo.

  • Moonbattery

    The number of people who got brainwashed by the promises of a marxist will never cease to amaze me.

    • Stephanie Rivet

      The amount of people willing to embrace the fascist result of unregulated capitalism will never cease to amaze me.

  • Bruce

    Low information voter comments are expected in red states . I don’t find em amusing in the great north people. Please , we buy a ton of sh@%t from communist states such as China but I don’t hear frightened screams full of fear about the communists taking us over even though one could make the case at least economically. Billionaires are literally writing , proposing and enacting our laws through A.L.E.C.

    • krisshanahan

      Hateful and dumb people are all over the map. Just look at Trump’s story.

    • Minnesota Madman

      The goal of socialism is communism. – Vladimir Lenin

  • tccitzen

    Minnesota again, vote for a communist, you can’t make this stuff up, but considering the choice I understand, what i don’t understand is not realizing progressive or socialist or communist are in direct conflict with freedom (the Constitution) But Minnesota is different than the other 49 states.

    • adleonard11

      Yeah, not so much. He’s a Democratic Socialist. Socialism and communism are not the same thing. And Minnesota is actually a lot like the 4 other states that Sanders has won so far.

      • Randy T.

        These folks also think Sadam Hussein had something to do with 9/11.

      • tccitzen

        Having studied it, having been to socialist counties, they are the same, marketing comes to mind. what ever one wants to call this evil concept it is against personal freedom. Sit down with a Czech, Pole, Cambodian, German, see them shake and cry.

  • delores barton

    So what has Hillary done for black people? She helped round up votes to get the incarceration bill passed for her husband, which led to twice as many people being put in prison during Clinton’s term, and a large number of them were black. The police in low-income neighborhoods were doing random searches and often targeting blacks, hoping to find drugs on them, while no one was doing random searches of the Wall Street elite, who were just as likely to have drugs on them. Clinton, with Hillary’s approval, also passed the welfare bill that meant that poor people, often black, lost their safety net and could only have welfare for a lifetime total of five years or less, such as two years in some states. Income inequality and the high cost of colleges hurts black people, and Hillary will do nothing to solve those issues, as her interest is in Wall Street, banking, and the insurance industry. Hillary also thinks the fix for Obamacare is to have insurance companies pay for three office visits a year (something some silver plans already cover and I bet Bill and Hillary, like other people with health issues–and many blacks–have to go in a lot more often than that) and to add a tax credit, which won’t do much for working people. Bernie would do more for blacks than Hillary.

  • The Crusader

    The DFL has spent large amounts of taxpayer money to import immigrant voters to stack the deck in their favor at election time. They have destroyed the fabric of Minnesota communities while doing so- look at what’s happening in St. Cloud, for instance.

    The DFL has also refused to uphold current black-letter law- while one of Dayton’s eyes is looking left at illegal aliens and ignoring them the other is looking right at the illegal ‘sanctuary cities’ and allowing that lawlessness to go on as well.

    When citizens objected to their communities being destroyed for Democrat votes Dayton told them they could leave the state if they didn’t like it.

    So while it is utterly embarrassing that so many in Minnesota are ignorant enough of our history and how a Constitutional republic operates to vote for an actual self-described socialist, it is also deliciously ironic.

    Despite the DFL harming Minnesota and its citizens by perpetrating and condoning the illegal actions mentioned above, they could not ‘bring home the bacon’ for Granny Clinton.

    The immigrants installed and instructed by Dayton and his cronies were perhaps taught too well- leftist takers will always vote for the one who offers the most things which don’t belong to them, and that person right now is the geriatric socialist.

    • NDDEM

      I think you have a skewed vision of what you call socialism.
      Denmark, for example. Would you categorize them as socialist because they have fantastic social programs?
      In actuality they are a more capitalistic nation then we are.

      They have less government burden of regulation, more freedom to trade internationally, a smaller government per person, and almost as much economic freedom.

      Having good social programs doesn’t exclude a nation from practicing good capitalism nor does it imply getting anything for free. They are paid for by the people and they are for the people.

      And haven’t you heard? Sanders doesn’t do well with the black vote so there goes your theory of African immigrants voting for “more free stuff”

      • Theyneverlearn

        The whole “voting for free stuff” argument is so lazy and willfully ignorant that all I can do roll my eyes every time someone throws it out there. It seemed to catch on in 2008 and it refuses to die.

        • NDDEM

          I agree. Its absurd. .
          We give the federal government over a trillion dollars a year (granted only about $7500/year of that was mine) and its not ludicrous to expect that money to be mostly spent on our citizens.

          Even if I have to up my share to $10,000/year…if the result is cutting out most of the bloodletting in the healthcate industry then sign me up but don’t call me giving $10K/year me getting something free lol

  • Theyneverlearn

    The butt-hurt in some of these comments is delightful. Imagine the gall of those folks who voted for a candidate who is transparent, honest, scandal free and NOT a puppet of the billionaire class. We have to try and make Sanders look bad somehow, so let’s label him with the spookiest, boogey-man title we can possibly imagine: SOCIALISM! Oooooh, scary!

    • The Crusader

      First of all, Bernie labeled himself a socialist (as you would know if you were an informed voter) so that dog won’t hunt.

      Secondly, it sounds like you’re starting to realize you wasted your vote and are trying to rationalize it now.

      Who’s butthurt? Personally, I’m laughing about the greater Minnesota unwashed voters giving the finger to the Democrat party.

  • mexiapolis

    “On Super Tuesday Bernie Sanders won four states in his ongoing bid to secure the Democratic nomination. Armed with a consistent focus on economic inequality and a call for a political revolution, the democratic socialist Senator from Vermont has by all accounts waged an inspiring and historic campaign.

    The short-term and potential long-term implications of the movement growing around the Sanders candidacy; its relation to Secretary Hillary Clinton’s history making run for the presidency and the labor and democratic movements generally are explored in Communist national chairman John Bachtell’s article “The Sanders campaign, political revolution and the 2016 election.”

    We encourage you to discuss it, email it to friends, post the article on social networks. For the first time in decades the words “socialism” and “revolution” are resonating widely in the U.S. public. John Bachtell’s article is an important contribution to the growing discussion.

    Looking forward to hearing from you.

    Communist Party USA”

  • bill berdixman

    why wouldn’t he win? He has offered up other peoples money to those that choose not to work

  • Maya ADog

    Sanders. Why does that not surprise me with all the brain-dead liberals in this state?

    • Hugh Jorgahn

      But, but, socialism is GOOD right?… what a bunch of morons.

  • Tom

    Good job, MN DFLers! One of the few states to recognize Hillary for the corrupt, self-serving, chameleon that she is. I’ll take an honest socialist over a corrupt progressive any day.

  • Tim N Anita Hudacek

    What has Bernie Sanders done for people of color!!??!! Bernie Sanders was CHAINED to 2 women in the fight against segregated housing in Chicago, Bernie Sanders was involved in sit-in’s, Bernie Sanders has been an activist for people of color since the 1950’s!!!! When was the last time (IF EVER) you have seen $hillary chained to people, involved in sit in’s!?! NEVER! $hillary talks the talk but what about Bill’s 3 strikes bill? What is the percentage of people of color sitting LIFE in prison because of the law her husband passed?? How quickly you forget $hillarys talk about Super Predators and putting those predators “to heel” – Or when she said “People in hoodies are scary”. Bernie Sanders has ALWAYS fought FOR THE PEOPLE – ALL PEOPLE of this country – He has a 93% approval rating with the ACLU and a 97% approval rating with the NAACP….You can educate yourself here:

  • adleonard11

    Um, he’s a Democratic Socialist. Socialism and communism are not the same thing. They are very different.

    On top of that, Minnesota wasn’t the “ONLY” state. In fact, he won 4 states last night, and he won New Hampshire a few weeks ago. So Minnesota is one of 5 states to support Sanders

  • DavefromMinn

    I would say he is more of a fascist like Mussilini. Sanders will allow private business to go on, but they must get permission from The State to do anything. Or to say it another way, they are privately owned but controlled by The State.

  • chris black

    So proud, LOL!

  • mexiapolis

    If you study Marx’ Communist Manifesto you will find that in essence Marx said the proletarian revolution would establish the “SOCIALIST dictatorship of the proletariat”. To achieve the SOCIALIST dictatorship of the proletariat, three things would have to be accomplished:

    1. The elimination of all right to private property

    2. The dissolution of the family unit

    3.Destruction of what Marx referred to as the “opiate of the people,” religion.

    Marx went on to state that when the dictatorship of the proletariat had accomplished these three things throughout the world, and after some undetermined length of time (as you can imagine, he was very vague on this point), the all powerful state’ would miraculously wither away and state socialism would give way to Communism. You wouldn’t need any government at all. Everything would be peace, sweetness and light and everybody would live happily ever after.

    But first, all Communists must work to establish SOCIALISM.

  • Highlander

    Sanders is hardly a communist. Perhaps you should take some classes and learn what a communist is. Sanders marches in the long line of progressives including Franklin Roosevelt, Hubert Humphrey, Lyndon Johnson, Paul David Wellstone, Joe Karth, Bruce Vento, etc. But feel free to vote for Trump and his hateful agenda.


    I’d be willing to bet you don’t even know what “communism” is so go ahead and read this very enlightening article.

  • The Crusader

    “The goal of socialism is communism.”
    – Vladimir Lenin


    He’s not even a Democratic Socialist. He misrepresents himself by referring to himself that way.
    He is a Social Democrat.
    Nothing scary…no bogeyman..
    Just a Democrat that advocates inclusive social programs that are equal across all divides.

  • adleonard11

    While it’s true that you can’t have communism without socialism, you very much can have socialism without communism. Heck, we have that here already. So much of our government has socialistic policies, and many of them are necessary. Do you like roads? I do. That’s socialism. How about sewer systems? Parks? Fire and police departments? All socialism based government programs. But they aren’t communist. If you support public roads, parks, sewer systems, fire/police departments, etc, YOU support socialism, too. So then it comes down to how much socialism, which is a good honest debate to be had. But to blanketly say all socialism is communism and socialism is bad is just stupidity and hypocrisy.

    So honestly… stop freaking out about something that really isn’t worth freaking out about. Take a breath, calm down, and learn some proper definitions of things.

  • Stephanie Rivet

    The goal of capitalism is fascism.

  • The Crusader

    “Socialism is a range of economic and social systems characterized by social ownership and democratic control of the means of production”

    Your roads and parks talking point in invalid, and has been trotted out repeatedly as a meme to fool people who don’t know any better. You might want to come up with a better schtick when dealing with informed voters.

    I guess when Castro, Stalin, Pol Pot and others killed millions of people, they weren’t doing socialism right?

    To quote Joseph Goebbels: “To be a socialist is to submit the I to the thou; socialism is sacrificing the individual to the whole.”

    These ideas are not compatible with a the idea of free people living in a republic.

    It looks like you yourself might need to look into the proper definitions of things rather than falling for the lure of other peoples’ money being illicitly offered to you by an old commie.

  • Highlander

    You can’t reason with an irrational Palin worshiping T-Partyite.

  • adleonard11


    Are the use of roads and parks not an exchange of something? You’re exchanging your tax dollars to pay for and use something that is then owned by the community as a whole. That is socialism.

    Castro, Stalin, and Pol Pot were doing communism, of which, like I said, socialism is a part. But it is simply a part. Communism requires other parts that socialism does not.

    I’m not a huge fan of Sanders actually. I didn’t caucus last night because I was meeting with a friend who’s been going through some pretty rough times lately. I don’t know who I would have caucused for if I hadn’t been meeting with my friend. So I’m not “falling for the lure of other peoples’ money”. I’m simply stating facts.

    And for the record, I’m a 31 year old married father with a steady job, employer provided health coverage, and minimal debt (mortgage, student loans, car loan). Sanders’ proposals for free public college, universal health care, etc won’t really benefit me. I’m not going back to college anyway, and I’ve already got the health care. But it will benefit others, so you are right, I do tend to think of others above myself. I try to take after Jesus like that. You know, that whole self-sacrificial love thing.

  • mexiapolis

    Yes, the roads/ bridges, parks etc is the carrot of the camel’s nose. What the “Useful Idiots” fail to acknowledge is that 70% of our current budget (over $3,000,000,000,000 is grossly unfunded socialist Ponzi schemes and wealth transfer payments.

    No amount of facts will shake these people’s faith. The not so slow collapse of Europe, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Venezuela, Greece, Illinois, etc are oblivious to them.

    And now you understand how Communism could last for 70 years in Russia when all empirical evidence was crying FAILURE.

  • Randy T.

    Sorry, but I’m afraid adleonard11 won that debate.


    You think to persuade people by quoting Goebbels?
    At least you don’t deny your inspiration.

    Read this if you have any interest in actually learning.

    And drop the cliche commie crap…
    Just because Bernie hasn’t learned the term Social Democrat doesn’t meant that isn’t what he is.

  • The Crusader

    Government seizure of independent businesses for government profit is not allowed in a republic, so we really don’t need to go beyond that- the rest is the clamoring of the takers wanting a bigger piece of their neighbors’ pies without regard for the consequences.

    What do you think the founders of our system of self-government would have done with Sanders? He himself would have been ‘feeling the Bern,’ I think.

    As we’re seeing, government trying to run health care was a mistake- my goodness, who could have guessed? Yeah, let’s give them more of our lives to manage!

    And Sanders has many ties to communist groups in his past- though he fancies himself a socialist, in reality he has behaved more as a commie.

    A commie with touchy-feely commercials, smoke and mirrors about being a Democrat and the pretense of being a harmless old man… but still a commie.

  • mexiapolis

    Did you read “Dreams from My Father” by Comrade Obama? Did you understand what Barack H Obama Sr was?
    A Marxist.
    The East African Journal, 1965
    “Problems Facing Our Socialism”


    I would strongly recommend you read Hubert Humphrey’s autobiography written in 1976. The first 100 pages are his battles with the Communists in MN for control of the DFL. HHH was one of the last devout anti-communists liberals.

    You do realize the DFL was formed by a merger of the Democratic Party and the Communists. Dimitriov spoke at length at the 7th World Congress in Moscow about creation of the Farmer Labor Party in America.

    Farm-Labor (Hammer -Sickle). The hammer represents the industrial worker; the sickle represents the peasant (Farmer in America).

  • The Crusader

    These people do not understand that the U.S. is broke and would have defaulted already except for the games being played with paper money which has nothing to back it.

    They are more concerned that their EBT cards are recharged monthly, and that they might benefit more with a sweet-talking commie in the White House.

  • Randy T.

    Your argument failed to address the point of what socialism is. You merely remarked on what you think is wrong with some “social” programs.

  • The Crusader

    Please explain.

  • Randy T.

    Sorry, but he won that one again.

  • mexiapolis

    Good point. When the Obama Regime defended the ACA at the SC, they never argued that the government had the power to socialize medicine. Instead, they argued Congress had the right to tax.

  • adleonard11

    Thanks for the support Randy. I’m done though. Can’t teach logic to an illogical person over the internet. I’ve got enough work to do anyway. Good day, sirs!

  • The Crusader

    Still waiting… which part is not accurate?

    Could it be that one of your low-comment accounts is a sock puppet of the other?

  • Highlander

    Yep, Bush’s wars were very expensive and after he destroyed the economy the country went deeper and deeper in the hole. But you just keep supporting the warmongering economy destroying neocons and keep spouting their dribble.

  • The Crusader

    I don’t recall ever speaking of Palin and I certainly am not a ‘worshiper.’ Nor am I involved with the Tea Party. I know you are a low-information voter, but that’s no excuse for libeling people online.

    It appears you still enjoy making things up when you don’t agree with someone else.

    Why so many lies when you can’t win arguments? Seriously, it’s embarrassing.

  • The Crusader

    Yet again going back 8 years to scream ‘Bush’s fault!”


    The financial numbers under 0bama speak for themselves.

  • The Crusader

    Funny, I don’t remember those guys flying to the USSR and Cuba to help the Soviets expand their influence during the Cold War or honeymooning in the USSR.

    Yeah, he’s a normal all-American boy!

  • Mike

    No more socialism. Someone break it down for me Barney style (military term for into it’s most simple explanation) as to how is it fair that I’ve spent my entire life building my career, military, school, job etc. which I’ve done on my own accord and why, I should be required to hand over even more of my salary to support your idea of utopia aka socialism? Get your hands off of my assets. I earned them and mark my words, I will protect them. Last time I checked the constitution it clearly states I have a right to the pursuit of happiness. Your expansion of socialism is a direct violation of that right. Then again, you socialists could care less about rights and the constitution.


    Exactly who is asking you to hand over your salary?
    Sanders plan calls for a 2.2% increase in PIT to fund a single payer health insurance system.
    If you make 100K a year you’d be out of pocket $2,200….you, and your family, your neighbors… would have health insurance with no copays, no other premiums, nothing else. For your measly 2.2% increase.

    Read the Constitution again..
    It clearly states that congress has the right to tax and spend on the general welfare of our citizens.
    Our Constitution not only provides the means for a single payer system…but is in the exact same spirit of it.

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