Democratic caucuses in Mesa County are Saturday, March 7 to choose a candidate to run against Sen. Cory Gardner. Here’s what you need to know:

Note: the date of the caucuses has been corrected in the title of this article. They are on Saturday, March 7.

We voted in Colorado’s presidential primary by mail already, but Democrats still have to pick a candidate to run against Republican Senator Cory Gardner (R-Invisible.)

That choice will be made through caucusing, which is a lot trickier than voting in the primary. Here’s what you need to know to participate in the Democratic caucuses coming up on Saturday, March 7:

What is a caucus?

In a caucus, you physically show up at a certain date, time and place and vote for your preferred nominee. There are no paper ballots.

In the 3/7 caucus, Democrats will gather in person to vote for their preferred nominee to run against Cory Gardner in the June statewide primary election. When the caucus starts, Dems physically group with others who support their same preferred nominee. There is a designated period of time in which people who favor one nominee share with others their reasons for supporting that particular candidate, and try to talk others into supporting their candidate. This gives people a chance to hear why everyone is supporting their favorite candidate and possibly switch their vote based on what they hear. (It happens.)

Then the final number of people supporting each candidate are tallied, delegates to the statewide Democratic convention are chosen based on that count, the delegates go on to attend the state-wide convention where delegates are counted again and the candidate with the most delegates statewide will appear on the ballot to face Cory Gardner in the November, 2020 general election.

The caucus is a good chance meet your fellow Democratic neighbors and you’ll probably come away thinking it was rewarding, because you’d never meet these folks otherwise and there are more Democrats out there than you realize. And sometimes, there are cookies.

Who are the Democratic candidates for Senate?

The Democratic candidates currently running for senate in Colorado are:

• Diana Bray, psychologist and climate activist
• Lorena Garcia, community organizer
• David Goldfischer, associate professor at the Korbel School for International Studies at the University of Denver
• Former Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper
• Andrew Romanoff, former Speaker of the Colorado House of Representatives
• Stephany Rose Spaulding, professor at University of Colorado Colorado Springs and nominee for Colorado’s 5th congressional district in 2018^]
• Erik Underwood, Entrepreneur and former candidate for Governor of Colorado in 2018
• Michelle Ferrigno Warren, former math teacher and director of Advocacy & Strategic Engagement for Christian Community Development Association 
• Trish Zornio, biomedical scientist

Where will my caucus will be held?

Caucuses are organized by the political parties and not by the state, so figuring out where your caucus will held be is a little tricky. Where you go depends on what voting precinct you live in. To find your precinct number:

1. Go to GoVoteColorado.com
2. Click on “Find my Registration”
3. Enter your first and last name, zip code and date of birth in the boxes and click “search.”
4. When your registration info appears, click on tab that says “County & District Information.”

Under “District Information,” find your ten-digit Precinct Number. The last two digits of this number are the number of your precinct. For example, if your 10-digit precinct number is 3075539040, then your precinct is number 40.

Then go to the the website of the Mesa County Democratic Party to find your precinct’s Democratic caucus. OR to save you time, here is all the info

• Precincts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 —Fruita Monument High School
• Precincts 9, 28, 29, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38 — Redlands Middle School
• Precincts 10,12,13, 55, 56, 57—Orchard Mesa Middle School
• Precinct 11 — Gateway Community Center
• Precinct 16 — Mesa Community Center
• Precincts 17,20,21, 22 — Mount Garfield Middle School
• Precincts 14, 15, 23, 24, 25, 27, 51,52 — Grand Mesa Middle School
• Precinct 18 — Plateau Valley School
• Precinct 19 — De Beque School
• Precincts 26, 49, 50, 53, 54 — Bookcliff Middle School
• Precincts 30,39,40,41,42,43,44,45,46,47,48 — Grand Junction High School

There should be signs at the locations directing you to the room where they caucus is. At schools, it’s typically held in a cafeteria, gym or library. For all caucuses, registration starts at 1:30 PM and the caucus starts at 2:00 p.m. sharp. All business must be completed by 4:00 PM, including cleanup.

Now get out and caucus, and let’s pick someone who will replace Cory Gardner!