Photo by Deb Gau Volunteers at the Republican precinct caucus in Marshall handed out straw poll ballots for the Minnesota governor’s race.

MARSHALL — People from around Lyon County gathered Tuesday to take the first steps toward shaping the Republican party platform and selecting candidates for 2026 elections.

Lyon County Republicans held precinct caucuses in three different locations around the county.

“We had a very good turnout,” said Lyon County Republicans co-chair Rick Konold. A total of 109 people attended caucuses in Marshall, 33 in Minneota and 19 in Tracy, Konold said.

“We had a lot of new people, and that’s a good thing,” he said.

Part of the business at the caucus was to hold a straw poll for Republican governor candidates. At this point, there’s still a large field of Republican candidates. Out of the candidates on the straw poll ballot, Minnesota Speaker of the House Lisa Demuth had the lead with 67 votes, Konold said. The next highest vote tallies were for Kendall Qualls, with 33 votes, and Scott Jensen with 16 votes.

Going into the caucus, organizers said there were several factors that could impact turnout. It was a gubernatorial election year, which can get people interested in participating. Voters could also be interested in the state Senate District 15 race, after Sen. Gary Dahms said he will not run again.

Konold said he thought the turnout reflected people’s concerns about Minnesota government.

“It’s indicative of, that people want to see change,” he said. “People came out to get involved.”

In Marshall, the crowd at the caucus heard speeches from candidates running for state Senate in District 15, and then broke up into precinct groups to choose county convention delegates and vote on resolutions for the Republican party platform.

Speaking at Tuesday’s precinct caucus were Braxton Seifert and Lynd resident Brian Mock. Both are running for Minnesota Senate in District 15.

Seifert said if elected, he would work to lower the cost of living, reduce taxes and regulations, and fight fraud.

“Minnesota doesn’t have a money problem. It has a leadership problem,” Seifert said. “Billions of your tax dollars have been stolen through fraud, while working families are forced to tighten their belts. It’s unacceptable, and it ends in November with this election.”

In his address to caucus participants, Mock talked about his experiences being imprisoned after being part of the Jan. 6, 2021 riots in Washington, D.C.

“I’m the most heavily charged Jan. 6er in the state of Minnesota,” Mock said. He said his experiences were part of what led him to run for office.

“I don’t have a political agenda,” Mock said. “My agenda is to go in there, get that money back they stole from all of you, and give it back. And I want to destroy the entire apparatus that gives them the ability to go up there and create a Marxist revolution, because that’s what’s happening right now.”