Caledonia, MN (WXOW)-- Out in Caledonia, Rick Santorum came out on top, collecting 32 of the 39 ballots cast. Mitt Romney came in second with three votes, and Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul both received two votes.
But for David Pieper, a resident of Mayville, it's about making sure his voice is heard.
Pieper came to his first caucus four years ago. Tonight he showed up to support his candidate, Rick Santorum, but Pieper says what's most important to him is being politically active.
"It's more important to be part of the process," said Pieper. "Most of these elections, whether they're local or national, are won by the volunteers. So if we can get people out here in the caucus, we'll also have people that will do door knocking and hand out pamphlets and really it's an issue to get out the vote."
David Pieper did speak in support of Santorum, but says he was surprised to see the caucus swing so heavily in favor of the former Pennsylvania Senator.
"I really was surprised to see how many people voted for Santorum because Ron Paul won the straw poll here last time," said Pieper. "So I was surprised that Rick Santorum had the votes that he did, at least here."
For David Pieper, caucus night is just the beginning of his involvement. He was voted to represent Mayfield township and will serve as a delegate at the Houston County Republican Convention.
"If we don't elect delegates and in the past we've gone up to La Crescent and only had six delegates so we only had six votes," said Pieper. "If we don't have the delegates, we don't get the votes and we can't get our candidate elected."
