Rick Santorum winner of local GOP caucus

Van Wert independent/Heart Land Patriots information

This past Tuesday, the Van Wert County Heart Land Patriots held their first non-binding Republican Presidential Caucus leading up to the Ohio “Super Tuesday” Primary Election on Tuesday, March 6.

The landslide winner, with 73.6 percent of the votes cast, was former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum.

The evening began with prayer, and “The Pledge of Allegiance,” and featured a video presentation of “The Star Spangled Banner,” complete with military fly-over, from a past Super Bowl opening

The Rev. Keith Stoller, co-moderator for the event, set the rules for the caucus, which included a total of 15 minutes of speeches in support of each of the four remaining contenders on the Ohio primary ballot.

Rev. Stoller also cautioned the crowd that only positive comments concerning the strengths of each candidate would be allowed during the support speeches, and the growing crowd accommodated the request.

The round of support speeches started slowly, with several folks finally having the courage to stand and offer support for former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. The Rev. Paul Hamrick, the other co-moderator, then stood and offered the many positives of Governor Mitt Romney, and several others concurred with additional comments.

Two ardent Ron Paul supporters then filled the candidate’s 15-minute segment, and, finally, several people spoke on behalf of Santorum to close the support portion of the program.

Secret ballots were then distributed, and 53 of those in attendance voted.  While votes were being counted, Rev. Hamrick and Rev. Stoller challenged the crowd to be faithful and get out the vote, not only for the primary election, but then to redouble the efforts to get a huge turnout for the November general election.

Future events, including a Fourth of July patriotic rally, and this fall’s Van Wert County Fair booth project, were discussed by members of the group. The annual fair booth has become a rallying point for the Heart Land Patriots and tool for voter education and motivation, and expectations are very high for this year’s event.

The individual vote tally for the caucus was as follows:  Santorum: 39 votes (73.6 percent), Ron Paul: 7 votes (13.2 percent), Newt Gingrich: 4 votes (7.5 percent), and Mitt Romney: 3 votes (5.7 percent).  The next meeting on the Patriots’ calendar is Tuesday evening, March 13, at 6:30 p.m. in the Fireside Room of the Trinity Friends Family Life Center, located at 605 N. Franklin St. in Van Wert.