A standing-room-only crowd of Jefferson County Democrats filled the American Legion Center on Saturday morning, Jan. 12 to learn about the Feb. 5 caucus process. A record 175 people overwhelmed the kitchen staff for the once-a-month breakfast gathering of Jeffco Dems. There was lively discussion about the choices for president, hobnobbing by local candidates and office-holders, and test voting in practice caucuses.

State Senator Betty Boyd (SD-21) was presented with an award from the county mental health office, for her selfless efforts to improve opportunity for those suffering with mental health issues in the state. She received a lovely painting created by a patient within the program.

House District 26 Representative and social studies teacher Andy Kerr, provided a brief history of the candidate selection process, explaining the benefits of Colorado's unique selection system, with its caucus and primary components.

State Representative Kerr related the story of Martha Conan, one of the first Colorado women representatives in the legislature, who introduced legislation for primary elections in about 1896 because women were being blocked from participating in the caucus process. This change was finally made in 1910 in her memory. Kerr finished by reinforcing the importance of civic responsibility -- getting involved in elections;talking about government to neighbors; engaging in cordial political discussions; paying attention to what is going on in our local, state and federal governments; and, of course, voting.

Dick Barkey, Jefferson County Democrats chair, then set up the program for the practice caucus. Withsix tonine people at each table, groups held a caucus, including straw votes, final preference votes and allocating delegates to the county convention. Participants became totally engaged in deciding whom they would support, with open discussions and vote switching at each table. The tallies were collected and totaled, giving a count for this sample group of Jefferson County Democrats.

The final count for the morning came out as follows:

Hillary Clinton - 55 votes - 33% of the vote

John Edwards - 53 votes - 32% of the vote

Barack Obama - 40 votes - 24% of the vote

Undecided - 14 votes - 8% of the vote

Dennis Kucinich - 5 votes - 3% of the vote

In the real caucus, only candidates with at least 15% of the vote will get delegates to the County Convention on March 15.

Jefferson County Democrats will receive full caucus training at four locations in January:

North Jeffco: Jan. 23 - Stanley Lake Library - Arvada - 6:30 p.m.

South Jeffco: Jan 24. - Bemis Library - Littleton - 6:30 p.m.

Central Jeffco: Jan 25. - Clements Center - Lakewood - 6:30 p.m.

Jan. 28 - Clements Center - Lakewood - 6:30p.m.

Interested Democrats in the county can also find out where to go in order to participate in the Feb. 5 caucus on the Jefferson County Democrats' Web site, www.jeffcodems.org. Registered Jefferson County Democrats can participate in discussion and vote, with observers welcome.

Food was collected for the Jefferson County Action Center, which has seen slower donations recently. Dick Barkey's car was filled with bags and boxes of food staples.

Jefferson County Democrats and interested people are encouraged to attend Second Saturday breakfasts at the American Legion. Each month's program promises to add excitement, building toward November's general election!