National Review’s Jim Geraghty and former Clinton pollster and adviser Mark Penn join ‘America’s Newsroom’ to discuss the upcoming Iowa caucuses and the inclement weather. All eyes will be on Iowa on Monday as the state’s caucuses kick off the Republican presidential nominating calendar.
The Iowa caucuses have been the first-in-the-nation balloting since the 1970s. Unlike primary elections, the caucuses are run by the state parties and there is no set list of authorized candidates for the Iowa Republican caucuses. This means that caucusgoers may write in any person they prefer, although most will choose between the current GOP candidates, including former President Donald Trump, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, and entrepreneur Ryan Binkley.
Both the Republican and Democratic parties will hold their caucuses on Monday night, but only Republicans will vote for a 2024 presidential nominee. Registered Republicans will cast their vote for who they want to be president, while registered Democrats will meet to conduct party business and will not hold a presidential preference vote. Former President Donald Trump, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy are vying for the Republican presidential primary nomination.
To participate in the caucuses, registered Republican voters will arrive and sign in at their respective precincts in 99 counties statewide. They will then hear brief speeches by representatives of each candidate before casting their ballots for who they want to be president. The ballots will be counted immediately and in view of the caucusgoers and campaign representatives. The results from each precinct will be entered into an online system by each precinct chair and tallied by Republican Party of Iowa staffers. The results will be reported via the party’s official website.
The goal of the GOP is to avoid the reporting issues faced by the Iowa Democratic Party during the 2020 Democratic caucuses. The Iowa Democrats will mail-in their pick for the presidential nominee and have until Super Tuesday to do so. On Monday, Iowa Republican voters will choose their presidential nominee, and the results will determine how many of the state’s 40 convention delegates each candidate will receive. Candidates win national convention delegates in direct proportion to the percentage of the vote they receive.
While the Iowa caucuses will give the winning candidate an early lead in the delegate race, it does not necessarily predict who will become the party’s nominee. Iowa makes up only 1.6% of the total number of Republican delegates nationwide, but because it is the first to vote in the country, the results can have a significant effect on a campaign and have the potential to further winnow the Republican primary field. The New Hampshire primary will be held just eight days after the caucuses.
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