How is it organized and what's its purpose?

Basic Political Operating Unit

In the Republican Party of Minnesota (MN GOP), BPOU stands for Basic Political Operating Unit.  BPOUs are independent, locally organized entities for caucuses, conventions, local GOP events and grassroots organizing within the party.  The average 2025 population of the 40 Metro Minneapolis-St. Paul BPOUs is approximately 85,000 citizens. These Metro BPOUs are generally synonymous with the Senate Districts that define their boundaries and populations.   Outside the Metro area, because BPOUs are designed to engage people locally, the BPOUs serve a similar-sized geography with lower population density.  As a result, in rural MN, there are multiple smaller BPOUs per Senate District, with 81 additional BPOUs outside the Twin Cities Metro area serving a population of approximately 2.3 Million. 

Precincts

Precincts are a smaller political unit operating within a BPOU.  Each BPOU supports about 20 precincts (22 precincts in Senate District 42).  These precincts vary in size, but active precincts help organize volunteers to promote party ideology and to grow the base in their precincts during non-election years.  Then, during election season, precinct volunteers become the ground game engine for candidate campaigns.

Caucuses, Conventions & Organization

Despite the vital grassroots role of BPOU precincts, the BPOU has it name because it's the basic political operating unit for caucuses, conventions and organizational development within the party.  BPOUs operate as independent entities.  They have their own leadership, membership, budget, etc., while also being part of the MN GOP political hierarchy.  Each BPOU coordinates and participates with the Congressional District in which it resides.  Each BPOU also elects 3 delegates and 6 alternates to the MN GOP State Central Committee which governs the MN GOP

As seen in the Political Process map, during election year caucuses, the attending voters of each precinct elect delegates and alternates who will attend the Senate District (BPOU) Convention 4-6 weeks later. At the SD 42 (BPOU) Convention we will endorse district candidates and elect delegates and alternates for the Congressional District and State Party conventions.  During odd years (known as off years, because there are no state or federal elections), BPOU conventions are held to elect the BPOU leadership required to maintain district leadership, develop the precincts of the district, and recruit and develop candidates for even-year election campaigns. The State Central Committee delegates & alternates are also elected at these BPOU Conventions.

Other Facts

State House & Senate Representation.  Our BPOU (officially named Senate District 42 RPM, but commonly referred to as SD 42 GOP) is entirely located in Congressional District 3, along with all or part of 9 other BPOUs (Senate Districts).  Senate District 42 is comprised of House Districts 42A & 42B.  Each House District is represented in the state legislature by a MN State Representative and SD 42 as a whole is represented in the MN Senate by one MN State Senator.

Precincts.  SD 42 includes Plymouth (except for P-16 which is in SD 43), Medicine Lake and Eden Prairie Precinct-12.   Overall, there are 22 precincts in SD 42.  Polling locations are also based upon your precinct.  Generally, each precinct has a distinct polling location at a church, school, community center or other public building within the boundaries of the precinct.  However, polling places and staffing are operated by the municipalities of each county in accordance with State of MN election statutes.

BPOU Governance.  The leadership of SD 42 GOP consists of an Executive Board with a Chair, Deputy Chair, Treasurer, Secretary and at least 3 Vice Chairs from each of the two house districts.  The 22 SD 42 GOP precincts each have a Chair, Vice Chair(s) and Secretary who are elected at the even-year Precinct Caucuses.  There are also 3 delegates and 6 alternates elected to represent SD 42 GOP at the MN GOP State Central Committee, which is responsible for the general management of the Republican Party of Minnesota's affairs in between even-year State conventions.

Platform Changes.  Proposals to amend the platform may be presented at the precinct level during each precinct caucus.  If the proposed amendment passes at caucus by majority vote, it must be reviewed by the BPOU platform committee and presented for consideration and debate at the BPOU convention.  If the amendment is adopted at the BPOU convention, the process repeats at the Congressional District (CD) Convention.  If an amendment is adopted at the CD Convention it must be presented for consideration at the State Convention.

BPOU Geographical Boundaries.  A BPOU may be redistricted when the legislature changes the district boundaries to reflect population changes. Generally, this happens no more than once in a decade.  The redistricting process is political, with the party in power working to maintain or redraw the district lines to favor its electoral demographics.