So Cruz wins Iowa-not since
2000 has a Republican who won Iowa went on to win the Republican nomination and
then to win the presidency. That was George W. Bush-Ronald Reagan was Iowa
caucus loser.
Millions
of dollars and much to do about the Iowa Caucus which is not a primary. In fact it’s not even an election.
The caucuses, are official
party meetings across the state’s nearly 1,700 precincts. Where neighbors meet
in high school gymnasiums, suburban libraries, and living rooms, Iowa voters
express their candidate preference among their peers. Sometimes they’ll submit
their choices on pieces of paper. In other instances, they’ll walk to corners
of a room that represent their candidate.
It’s equivalent to a neighborhood
house party where everyone is discussing a candidate and why they like that
candidate.
They don’t have to be
registered voter of either party before caucus they can register at the caucus
site.
THE PURPOSE OF THE CAUCUS
REPUBLICANS
The
process of selecting Iowa delegates to the Republican National Convention prior
to the 2016 election cycle started with selection of delegates to the county
conventions, which in turn affected the delegates elected to district
conventions who also served as delegates to the state convention where
delegates were chosen for the national convention.
This
process rewarded candidate organizers who not only got supporters to the caucus
sites but also got supporters willing to serve as delegates to county
conventions and willing to vote for other delegates who supported a specific
candidate. In 2012, this process resulted in Ron Paul supporters dominating the
Iowa delegation to the Republican National Convention, having 22 of the 28 Iowa
delegates, with Mitt Romney getting the other six delegates.
Because
the delegates elected at the caucuses did not need to declare a candidate
preference, the media did not have an objective way to determine the success of
individual candidates at the caucuses. The media focused on the secret ballot
polling conducted at the caucus sites and have generally referred to this
non-binding poll as the caucus. There were irregularities in the 2012 caucus
site polling results, including the fact that eight precinct results went
missing and were never counted.
Because
of the irregularities in the process and the fact that the totals reported to
the media were unrelated to the delegate selection process, there have been
changes in both how the caucus site secret ballot polling is sent to state
party headquarters and in how Iowa delegates to the national convention are
required to vote.
Starting in 2016, caucus results have become binding when
selecting delegates.[11] Acting in accordance with a mandate
from the Republican National Committee, the delegates are bound on the first
ballot to vote for candidates in proportion to the votes cast for each
candidate at the caucus sites.[12]
Republicans
2000 (January 24): George W. Bush (41%) Became President, Steve Forbes (31%), Alan Keyes (14%), Gary Bauer (9%), John McCain (5%),
and Orrin Hatch (1%)
2004 (January 19): George W. Bush (unopposed) Became President
2008 (January 3): Mike Huckabee (34%), Mitt Romney (25%), Fred Thompson (13%), John McCain (13%) won nomination lost Presidency, Ron Paul (10%),Rudy Giuliani (4%),
and Duncan Hunter (1%)
2012 (January 3): Rick Santorum (25%), Mitt Romney (25%) won nomination lost presidency, Ron Paul (21%), Newt Gingrich (13%), Rick Perry (10%), Michele Bachmann (5%),
and Jon Huntsman (0.6%)[21]
2016 (February 1): Ted Cruz (27.7%), Donald Trump (24.3%), Marco Rubio (23.1%), Ben Carson (9.3%), Rand Paul (4.5%), Jeb Bush (2.8%) [26]
DEMOCRATS
The
number of delegates each candidate receives eventually determines how many
state delegates from Iowa that candidate will have at the Democratic
National Convention. Iowa sends 56 delegates to the DNC out of a
total 4,366.
Of
the 45 delegates that were chosen through the caucus system, 29 were chosen at
the district level. Ten delegates were at-large delegates, and six were
"party leader and elected official" (PLEO) delegates; these were
assigned at the state convention. There were also 11 other delegates, eight of
whom were appointed from local Democratic National Committee members - two were
PLEO delegates and one was elected at the state Democratic convention.
In
2014, the Iowa Democratic Party announced changes to the caucus system that
will allow members of the military to participate in a statewide caucus and
establish satellite caucuses for the disabled and others who have trouble
making it to the physical location of the caucuses. They will also work for the
passage of a new law that requires employers to allow employees to take time
off for the caucuses.[14]
Democrats
2000 (January 24): Al Gore (63%) and Bill Bradley (37%)
2004 (January 19): John Kerry (38%), John Edwards (32%), Howard Dean (18%), Dick Gephardt (11%),
and Dennis Kucinich(1%)
2008 (January 3): Barack Obama (38%), John Edwards (30%), Hillary Clinton (29%), Bill Richardson (2%), Joe Biden(1%)[25]
2012 (January 3): Barack Obama (98%),
"Uncommitted" (2%)[19]
2016 (February 1): Hillary Clinton (49.9%), Bernie Sanders (49.5%), Martin O'Malley (0.6%)
Note: Candidates in bold eventually
won their party's nomination. Candidates also in italics subsequently
won the general election.
