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The Iowa caucuses are quadrennial electoral events for the Democratic and Republican parties in the U.S. state of Iowa. Unlike primary elections, where registered voters cast ballots at polling places on election day, Iowa caucuses are meetings where voters gather to discuss and select candidates for their registered party. Political parties hold the caucuses, in contrast to most state-run primaries.[1] Both presidential and midterm elections in Iowa use caucuses.[2] The caucuses are also held to select delegates to county conventions and party committees, among other party activities.[3][4]
The Iowa caucuses are noteworthy as the first major contest of the United States presidential primary season.[5] Although caucus-goers have been unrepresentative of the nation's overall demographic,[6] caucuses are still seen by some as a strong indicator of how a presidential candidate will do in later contests.[7] Candidates who do poorly in the Iowa caucus frequently drop out in the following days.[8]
The 2020 Iowa Republican caucuses and the 2020 Iowa Democratic caucuses took place on February 3, 2020. The Democratic caucus proved controversial after difficulties and errors in the reporting of the final vote totals.[9] Iowa Democratic Party Chair Troy Price resigned on February 12, 2020, over the chaos resulting from the caucus.[10]
On February 4, 2023, the Democratic National Committee approved a new calendar for the 2024 Democratic Party presidential primaries, moving the South Carolina Democratic primary to be held first on February 3, and pushing the Iowa Democratic caucuses later to March.[11] The Republican National Committee still announced plans to hold the Iowa Republican caucuses first in the 2024 Republican Party presidential primaries.[12] By October 6, the Democratic National Committee reached a compromise in which the in-person Iowa Democratic caucuses focusing on party business could still be held in January, but voting on presidential candidates would be done via mail-in ballots until Super Tuesday, March 5.[13]
- ^ "Feeling caucus confusion? Your guide to how Iowa works". AP News. January 4, 2024. Archived from the original on January 15, 2024. Retrieved January 16, 2024.
- ^ "Cedar Rapids Gazette". Newspaperarchive.com. November 5, 2008. p. 1. Archived from the original on February 2, 2016. Retrieved January 20, 2016.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
worldcatwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Larimer, Christopher W. (Christopher Wesley). Gubernatorial stability in Iowa : a stranglehold on power. ISBN 978-1-137-52814-8. OCLC 934936718.
- ^ Malone, Clare (January 29, 2016). "Ann Selzer Is The Best Pollster In Politics". FiveThirtyEight.com. Archived from the original on May 2, 2021. Retrieved February 5, 2016.
- ^ "More than 90 percent of Iowa caucus-goers are white, according to entrance polls". theweek.com. The Week. February 3, 2020. Archived from the original on January 18, 2021. Retrieved February 4, 2020.
- ^ "DemDaily: First in the Nation". demlist.com. July 11, 2019. Archived from the original on April 24, 2020. Retrieved January 26, 2020.
- ^ "Why Iowa is so important in the presidential election". The Economist. January 31, 2016. Archived from the original on January 9, 2018. Retrieved December 30, 2017.
- ^ Scanlan, Quinn; Karson, Kendall; Cunningham, Meg. "Iowa caucus: What we know and what went wrong". ABC News. Archived from the original on January 12, 2021. Retrieved February 4, 2020.
- ^ "Iowa Democratic Party chair resigns after caucus fiasco". NBC News. February 12, 2020. Archived from the original on April 23, 2021. Retrieved February 13, 2020.
- ^ Will Weissert (February 4, 2023). "Dems decide to shake up start of 2024 presidential primary". AP NEWS. Archived from the original on February 4, 2023. Retrieved February 4, 2023.
- ^ "When are the Iowa caucuses? Great question". Politico. June 10, 2023. Archived from the original on June 10, 2023. Retrieved June 10, 2023.
- ^ "DNC's new calendar, will release caucus results on Super Tuesday". Iowa Public Radio. October 6, 2023. Archived from the original on October 20, 2023. Retrieved October 19, 2023.