DES MOINES, Iowa (Gray Television Iowa Capitol Bureau) – Iowa’s Republican Party chair is challenging Democratic leaders to give up their new way of caucusing for a presidential candidate by mail that they used this year and instead return to the traditional, in-person way.
Iowa GOP Chair Jeff Kaufmann says being first in the nation in 2028 starts right now.
Kaufmann says Iowa Democrats’ move from in-person caucuses to a mail in ballot is unacceptable. “We can’t wait to have this conversation for three years or two years. Now is the time you correct this absolute utter debacle,” Kaufmann said.
Iowa Democrats had been at the front of the line in the presidential election cycle since 1972. “Why in the world aren’t we holding a political party accountable for breaking a 50 year tradition that’s going to affect all of our lives and affect this state in the most fundamental of ways in terms of our influence?,” Kaufmann said.
President joe Biden and the Democratic National Committee opted to have South Carolina go first this cycle. That’s the state that gave his struggling campaign life in 2020.
Kaufmann says Iowa Democrats should’ve followed New Hampshire’s lead this cycle, defied the DNC and gone first anyways, even if it meant losing delegates at the National Convention. “All you have to do is look at the New Hampshire Democrats. If you want to see a Democratic Party that chose their state over their party, go to New Hampshire,” Kaufmann said.
Iowa Democratic leaders felt like their hybrid method this year was their only option, and Chair Rita Hart said the mail in option made the process more accessible than the old in-person caucus “Whether they worked third shift, if they have small children, if they’re living with a disability, if they’re snow birds, these are all people who have the option now to be able to participate in the process,” Hart said.
Hart says they’re looking at ways in 2028 to expand participation, where people could put their presidential preference cards in the mail or a drop box, and to also find a way to keep the excitement of in-person caucuses. “I think there’s ways for us to really take a look at that again and see how we can’t create that kind of interest, that kind of spirited back and forth and discourse that can take place at those in person caucuses,” Hart said.
As for Iowa’s status of being first in the nation for Republicans, Kaufmann says if Donald Trump is re-elected, he has full confidence it’ll stay that way.
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Conner Hendricks covers state government and politics for Gray Television-owned stations in Iowa. Email him at conner.hendricks@gray.tv; and follow him on Facebook at Conner Hendricks TV or on X/Twitter @ConnerReports.
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