More than 1,700 Iowa precincts will hold caucuses on the evening of Jan. 15. It is the first election facing the Republican Party’s presidential hopefuls.
It’s finally here. After several months of campaigning, hundreds of appearances by Republicans across the state, and dozens of polls, the Republican Party of Iowa will hold its caucuses on the evening of Jan. 15.
The caucuses are the first national election of presidential hopefuls. The Hawkeye State’s GOP will choose between four major Republican candidates: former President Donald Trump, former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy.
How Does the Caucus Work?
While the Iowa caucuses date back to the 19th century, the modern form of the quadrennial event began in 1972.
Both the Republican Party and the Democratic Party have local party meetings across the state. The state of Iowa is not involved in the process.
Caucuses are meetings of neighbors to conduct the local business of their political parties. Iowa’s 1,765 precincts will convene a caucus at a set time on a set day ahead of the U.S. midterm and general elections. There are 728 caucus sites across the state.
The party meetings include deliberation on the party platform and other local business, then a presidential preference poll. Typically, before the poll, there are brief speeches made on behalf of the candidates by their so-called caucus captains. Sometimes, the candidates themselves will show up to speak.
In a primary election, secret ballots are cast all day and then tabulated by state election officials. At caucuses, ballots are cast and then counted immediately in full view of all at the caucus. The results are then reported to the state party.
The results of the presidential preference poll are used to assign delegates to each candidate. This plays a role in the nomination process at the party’s convention.
In 2024, the Republican Party of Iowa will hold in-person caucus and very likely report its results by the end of the night.
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