Hancock County Republicans have gotten an early start on next year's election activities. Since April, the Hancock County Republican Women and the Hancock County Republican Committee have been holding organizational meetings to assure that every town in the county has active participation in local Republican caucuses.

Instead of caucuses in each of the county's 37 municipalities, the Republican Party is planning regional caucuses leading up to the presidential election in 2012. Six regional caucus districts within Hancock County are being planned and regional caucuses will be held over three weekends next February.

Surry Republican Gete Thomson said the regional approach will make it easier for candidates to participate in multiple caucuses where they can collect signatures for nomination papers, connect with potential campaign workers and introduce themselves to voters. District configurations and caucus dates will be posted on the Hancock County GOP website, www.hancockgop.org.

For information about the 2012 Republican regional caucuses, call Gete Thomson at 664-0570 or Sandi Blanchette at 944-8444.