Pawlenty ties for first in Beltrami County straw poll

While still a year out from Super Tuesday, Republicans in the northwoods held a straw poll over the weekend to gauge interest in the 23 Republicans rumored to be mulling a presidential bid or a campaign against Sen. Amy Klobuchar in 2012. Beltrami County Republicans picked former Gov. Tim Pawlenty and Mike Huckabee for the GOP nomination while Rep. Michele Bachmann was the favorite to take on Klobuchar.

The straw poll was taken at the Beltrami County Republican convention, where 46 delegates voted. Pawlenty and Huckabee got 19.6 percent of the vote. Bachmann tied New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie with 8.7 percent, while Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney both got 6.5 percent. Donald Trump got 4.3 percent. Not a single vote was cast for Sarah Palin.

To take on Sen. Klobuchar in 2012, party activists liked Bachmann, giving her 21.7 percent. Pawenty and former state Rep. Marty Seifert tied at 15.2 percent, and former Rep. Tom Emmer got 13 percent.

The party also used the event to elect chairs. Tea party organizer Al Berkowitz, who was elected co-vice chair of the 7th Congressional District, quoted Hitler, according to the Bemidji Pioneer.

“I remind you of a quote from Adolf Hitler: ‘Give me a generation, and I own the country.’ Our children and grandchildren must remember that.”

Beltrami County encompasses Bemidji in the north-central part of the state.