The Iowa Caucus Explained
Written by Swathi Ram, Edited by Akhil Baidya
The Iowa caucuses are the first crucial competition of the presidential primary season. Despite the fact that only three Iowa caucus winners have proceeded to seize the white house since 1976, Iowa caucuses are thought to be an indicator of who will be leading the country for the next four years. Additionally, this contest tends to cut out some of the competition and give Americans an idea of what is to come.
Breaking Down the Caucus System
However, the caucus system incites confusion in Americans across the country, even those who closely follow the elections. In this article, this complex system will be broken down into a few simple parts.
The Iowa caucuses this year took place on January 15, 2024, and will be followed by the North Dakota, Wyoming, Nevada, and Missouri caucuses later this year. Both Republicans and Democrats have caucuses, but they are separate, and voters from one party are not permitted to attend the other’s caucuses. However, Iowans can change their party affiliation on caucus day.
Described as “closed-door meetings” by NBC, Republican caucuses are live and local. This year, there were over 1600 precincts (polling locations), including church basements, school cafeterias, and community centers, across 99 counties in Iowa. The caucuses start off with attendees choosing a chair, responsible for organizing the meeting. The chair then selects individuals to advocate for each major candidate. At times, candidates even show up at caucus locations with last-minute pitches. Debates can go back and forth for hours, trying to sway undecided voters one way or another.
Finally, voters are given slips of paper (usually blank) on which they write the name of the candidate they have chosen (sometimes there are write-in candidates). Then, the votes are tallied and the results are announced. Those results are significant because the percentage of votes each candidate receives is proportional to the number of delegates that will represent them at the Republican National Convention. This convention is a gathering of delegates from every state that determines the party’s presidential nominee. The state of Iowa has 40 delegates, which represents only 1.6% of all delegates nationally, so candidates that didn’t do as well in the caucuses still have a chance of bouncing back. However, success in the “Hawkeye state” may give a candidate the momentum and respect they need to continue forward.
The Iowa Democratic caucuses of 2020 had several technical difficulties, so this year voters used a mail-in system to communicate their preference for the Democratic presidential nominee. The results of this system will not be known until March. The purpose of the Democratic caucuses on January 15 was solely to discuss executive party business and begin the process of electing delegates to represent them at the Democratic National Convention.
Results of the 2024 Iowa Caucuses
Iowans battled the extreme cold on their way to the caucuses on January 15, 2024. Temperatures hovered in the minus tens with wind chills as low as minus 40 Fahrenheit. Records indicate that this was the coldest caucus day ever, with the high temperature in Des Moines 15 degrees colder than the last coldest caucus day on January 19, 2004. To make matters worse, from Monday to Friday the previous week, the city of Des Moines faced their second snowiest five-day stretch on record. Although road conditions were improving, partial and fully snow-covered roads were widespread in Southern Iowa. Likely due to these conditions, the turnout for the Iowa caucuses was a little over 110,000 people, approximately half of what the campaigns expected. One of the hardy Iowan Republicans who did attend commented that “real supporters will come out tonight and weather shouldn’t be an issue.”
Only 31 minutes after the caucus had begun, it was projected that former President Trump would win the state. The “real race” according to many analysts, was between former UN ambassador Nikki Haley, and Florida governor Ron DeSantis. With endorsement from Iowa’s popular governor, a reputation as the most conservative of the bunch, and investing more than even Trump, DeSantis was the ideal candidate for Iowa. Haley, on the other hand, did not begin actively competing in Iowa until October.
In the end, as predicted, Trump throttled his opponents, winning 51% of the vote, and dominating every corner of Iowa, from the cities to the rural areas. The majority of his supporters were evangelicals and people without college education. Many news sources highlighted his success as notable, since he (unlike Desantis) chose to abandon many Iowan rituals, including visiting all 99 counties and submitting to critical questioning. However, he did “invest early and heavily” in the state, enlisting over 1,800 people to advocate for him in the caucuses.
Both DeSantis and Haley straggled behind, with 21.2% and 19.1% of the vote respectively. “We’ve got our ticket punched out of Iowa. I am not going to make excuses and I guarantee you this- I will not let you down,” DeSantis announced from a hotel ballroom in West Des Moines after coming in second. Despite the fact that she came in third, having narrowly missed DeSantis, Haley declared that “Iowa made this Republican primary a two-person race.” Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy finished fourth in Iowa with only 7.7% of the vote, after which he suspended his campaign and announced his endorsement of Donald Trump.
The next clash between the remaining candidates will take place in the New Hampshire primary, followed by the Nevada caucuses, and then another primary in South Carolina. Ron DeSantis departed for South Carolina immediately after the Iowa caucuses, but his odds didn’t look good, as polls there showed Trump’s popularity surging. Moreover, Haley is the former governor of South Carolina. Just recently, Ron Desantis dropped out from the race, announcing his endorsement of Donald Trump. Nikki Haley left for New Hampshire where she is neck and neck with Donald Trump, who, as of right now, is flitting between the campaign trail and his trial in New York.
Nevertheless, as the Iowans demonstrated, Trump’s popularity is now higher than ever. “What do you like about him?,” an ABC reporter asked, directing the question towards one woman who was making her way towards the precinct through several feet of snow. “Everything, just everything,” she gushed. Clearly, his absences from the campaign trail don’t seem to be holding him back. “He needs the chance to finish what he started,” another loyal supporter stated.
