They lagged well behind frontrunners in Tuesday night's non-binding caucus straw poll but several of the laggards said Wednesday they're continuing to campaign unbowed.

Here's a selection of what some of the folks who got support in the single digits said:

Democratic state Sen. Tom Bakk, who got just over six percent in the straw poll, noted in a statement that he comes from a town of 600 and has had to work hard to introduce himself to folks. But he said, he's convinced he can win the November election if he gets that far.

"The straw poll results reinforced what we have known for months. There will be a number of strong candidates vying for the DFL endorsement at the convention in April. We will continue to travel the state and talk to delegates to get out the message that I am the strongest candidate on jobs and the economy, I am a proven leader, and I am the candidate best suited to win the General Election in November," he said.

Republican state Sen. David Hann, who placed third in the Republican straw poll with just over five percent, said he's planning on staying in the race. "Certainly we would like to have had stronger results than we did," he said. But since the results have come in, he said, supporters have called him and told him they still think he's the right guy for the GOP nomination. He said he plans to have a "series of meetings in the next several days" to map his strategy going forward.

Democratic state Rep. Tom Rukavina, who landed in fourth place with just over seven percent, declared himself "humbled and energized" by his showing. "This goes to show that a little money and a big, refreshingly honest message has made me a contender at the DFL convention," he said.

Democratic state Rep. Paul Thissen who admitted he would have liked to see his now just over seven percent showing a few percentage points higher. He also said he went to bed without waiting for final (or near final -- there are still about 18 percent of precincts missing from the DFL tally) results. But he said, he expected House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher and Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak would lead (and they did) and state Sen. John Marty would garner about ten percent (which he did.)

Thissen Wednesday talked openly about working to become the "consensus candidate at the convention," a role many observers have pegged for him for months. He said with 14 percent uncommitted in the straw poll and some support squishy for others, there's room for DFLers to migrate to his direction. He said he's not worried the straw poll showing would hurt his fundraising and that he raised a lot of cash this month already.

Democrat Steve Kelley, a former state senator who got four percent in the straw poll, said he didn't put much stock in the poll, which is "essentially a beauty pageant" and he didn't put any resource into wooing folks to vote for him in the poll. His focus? Delegates.

Democrat Matt Entenza, a former state representitive who got a little under seven percent in the poll, said the results show "the race is wide open." He also said the "turnout was very disappointingly low," a sign that Democrats aren't happy with incumbents.

He said he wasn't surprised by his lower showing because he is not abiding by the party's endorsement and he is not currently in office. He is, however, working to win the endorsement and has been calling delegates. On Wednesday, he said delegates told him, "Well, yeah, I cast a straw ballot for X candidate but, you know what, I am really wide open." (Note for the curious: Entenza said he was not pursuing a no endorsement strategy for the DFL April convention. "Conventions always endorse somebody.")

The conclusion: If straw polls are intended to thin the herd of candidates, these folks didn't get the memo.