On February 1, 2016 the Iowa Caucus was held. According to the LA Times, 4.46 million people tuned it to find out the results. Despite the amount of people who tuned in there are many people who still have no idea what the Iowa Caucus even is. I decided to ask a few students to find out what they knew.
“Ummmm” was a quote given by Freshman Michaela Smith.
Freshman Ava Oelrich said, “The Iowa Caucus is really important to candidates because it is the first one so they can foreshadow their standings in other states. It’s also one of the few states that has a caucus.”
Lastly, Freshman Michelle Fisk said, “I think that it’s an indicator or predictor for the upcoming election in November. I know that Hillary won with Bernie in a close second. I know Iowa is a really crucial state to win.”
So many different answers… I am here to help you finally know once and for all, what the Iowa Caucus even is!
Iowa is the first state in the United States hold a vote. According to the Independent, about half of the winners of the Iowa caucus actually go on to win their party’s nomination. Since 1972, when the caucuses began, none of the candidates who finished worse than fourth place have gone on to win the nomination. So the Iowa caucus actually does a better job of showing who doesn’t have a chance instead of who may win. This could be why many potential candidates drop out after the Iowa Caucus.
Voters come out from all of the 1,774 Iowa voting precincts to meet and help elect delegates to attend the county conventions. There are 99 country conventions where delegates are chosen for a state party convention. From there delegates are chosen to attend the national party convention where the Presidential nominee is finally selected.
If you are looking for more information on the history of the Iowa Caucus, this website is very helpful! http://conventions.cps.neu.edu/nominations-conventions/currentpractices/iowa-and-new-hampshire/
Now that you know a little more about the Iowa Caucus, what happened in this year’s?
For the Republicans, according to CNN, Ted Cruz came in first with 28%, Donald Trump came in second with 24% and Marco Rubio came in third with 23%. For the Democrats, according to USA Today, Hillary Clinton came in first with 49.86% and Bernie Sanders came in second with 49.57%. If you are looking for more information on what happened in the Iowa Caucus, here is an article from NPR. http://www.npr.org/sections/itsallpolitics/2016/02/02/465241558/how-it-happened-6-things-that-explain-the-iowa-caucus-results
Make sure stay informed and updated this election season!