Minneapolis DFL 2025 Caucus Guide
Thank you for being a member of our diverse Minneapolis DFL local party unit! We want to help you make your voice heard in this election year with mayor, city council, park board, and board of estimate & taxation on the ballot.
DFL Caucus Night
Tuesday, April 8, 2025
Registration opens at 6:30 pm.
Call to order (the start of the meeting) is 7:00pm.
What is a DFL Caucus?
A Minnesota DFL caucus is a gathering of neighbors who are members of the DFL Party. These neighbors, called caucus attendees, gather to talk about politics and elect a smaller group of their neighbors to represent them at a number of higher-level conventions. These conventions then elect party officers and endorse candidates running for mayor, city council, park board, and board of estimate & taxation.
DFL Caucus Meeting Agenda
1. The caucus leader reads rules for participating in caucuses.
Caucus Participation Rules
You live in the precinct.
You consider yourself a member of the DFL Party and agree with DFL party values.
You are not a member of any other political party.
You will be 18 years or older by Election Day 2025.
If you are 16 to 18 years old by Election Day 2025, you can still participate in other caucus work but cannot be elected to a role as a delegate or alternate or precinct officer.
2. The caucus leader reads a statement about DFL goals for diversity and inclusion.
3. The meeting selects who should lead the meeting and help with meeting tasks.
4. Check if anyone is concerned that another person is breaking the Caucus Participation Rules.
5. Pick delegates and alternates to the Ward Convention (where you endorse city council members)
Caucus leader reads reminder about diversity.
If there are more spots for delegates or alternates than people running, everyone is selected.
If there are more people who want to be delegates than spots, there is a vote to elect people.
6. Pick people to help plan the Ward Convention.
2 members of different genders for Rules.
2 members of different genders for Credentials.
7. Pick delegates and alternates to the City Convention (where you endorse mayor, park board, and board of estimate & taxation)
Caucus leader reads reminder about diversity.
If there are more spots for delegates or alternates than people running, everyone is selected.
If there are more people who want to be delegates than spots, walking subcaucuses are used.
8. Meeting finishes.
If you were picked as a delegate or alternate, make sure the caucus leader wrote down your information for the convention, and you got a reminder of the convention date and location.
Definitions of Common Terms
“Equal Division by Gender Identity”
This means delegates, alternates, and committee members must balance out so that the difference between the number of women and men is 1 or less. People who are non-binary don’t count towards either total.
A group of 5 women, 4 men and 2 non-binary people WOULD meet equal division rules (the difference between women and men is 1).
A group of 6 women, 6 men, and 0 non-binary people WOULD meet equal division rules (the difference between women and men is 0).
A group of 6 women, 4 men, and 2 non-binary people WOULD NOT meet equal division rules (the difference between women and men is 2).
“Walking Subcaucuses”
If we have more people who are nominated than available delegate seats, ‘walking subcaucuses’ are a way we can choose which people get those seats. The room is divided into physical groups based on which candidates or issues people in the room support. The groups are allocated a number of delegate seats based on how many people are in each group. The group then votes to elect delegates and alternates to represent that group.
“Endorsement”
The DFL Party is a political party. Party members like you can endorse candidates for public office to put party resources and the party logo behind chosen candidates. This is different from a nomination or election in November. The precinct caucus on April 8 is the first step to make that endorsement.