Iowa caucuses: A look back at the history of the Iowa caucuses
The Iowa caucuses are not first because they’re important; they’re important because they’re first. former Des Moines Register opinion editor Kathie Obradovich explains.
Kelsey Kremer, Des Moines Register
The Iowa Democratic Party has voted to place three names on its 2024 presidential preference cards that Iowans will use to cast their preferences for the Democratic nominee.
President Joe Biden, U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota and author Marianne Williamson will all have their names printed on the cards for Democrats to choose from. Democrats will also have an option to select “uncommitted.”
The party’s State Central Committee met Saturday to vote on the names that would appear on the preference cards, which will functionally act as mail-in ballots.
Candidates had to submit a letter to Iowa Democratic Party Chair Rita Hart by Dec. 1 to have their names placed on the preference cards, and those three were the only candidates to do so. There was no fee candidates had to pay to appear on the preference cards.
More: Iowa Democrats compromise with DNC, plan to release 2024 caucus results on Super Tuesday
“I’m planning to caucus for President Joe Biden,” Hart said in a statement following the vote. “President Biden has done more in his first two years than some presidents have done in two terms, and I believe he will win our 2024 Iowa Caucuses.”
The Democratic National Committee stripped Iowa of its first-in-the-nation status in the party’s 2024 presidential nominating process in favor of South Carolina, and there has been little campaigning by Democrats in the state this year.
While Vice President Kamala Harris has visited Iowa twice this year, Biden has not been to the state since 2022 and Phillips, who launched his campaign in October, has also been absent.
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Williamson participated in the Des Moines Register’s Political Soapbox at the Iowa State Fair in August, as did Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has since left the Democratic Party and is running for president as an independent.
More: Iowa Democrats compromise with DNC, plan to release 2024 caucus results on Super Tuesday
Why did Iowa Democrats opt for mail-in voting rather than in person?
Next year will be the first time Iowa Democrats use an all-mail caucus process for selecting the party’s presidential nominee.
State party leaders are enacting extensive changes to the caucus system in 2024 in an effort to make the process more inclusive to Iowans who can’t physically show up on caucus night.
While Iowa Democrats will still gather for caucuses on Jan. 15 to conduct party business and vote on a party platform, presidential preferences will be determined entirely through the mail-in cards.
More: Iowa Democrats can make their presidential pick in the 2024 mail-in caucus. How it works:
Iowa Democrats can request the cards either online or by downloading, printing and mailing a request form to the Iowa Democratic Party’s headquarters in Des Moines.
Iowa Democrats have until 5 p.m. Feb. 19 to request a preference card. Those cards will be mailed to participants beginning Jan. 12, 2024. They must be returned by March 5.
The Iowa Democratic Party won’t release the results until March 5, which is Super Tuesday. The party has said preference cards postmarked on March 5 will be counted.
How will Iowa Republicans caucus in 2024?
Iowa Republicans will continue to caucus the same way they have for decades. They will meet at 7 p.m. Jan. 15 at precinct locations scattered across the state to cast their own presidential preferences in person.
Unlike Democrats, Iowa Republicans will pass out blank sheets of paper at their Jan. 15 caucuses, and Iowans will write down the name of the candidate they wish to support.
Stephen Gruber-Miller covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. He can be reached by email at sgrubermil@registermedia.com or by phone at 515-284-8169. Follow him on Twitter at @sgrubermiller.
