The Iowa Republican Party announced Saturday that it will hold its first-ever Republican presidential caucus in the nation on January 15, 2024, kicking off the party’s bid for the White House shortly before recent nomination fights.
in a statementIowa Republican Party Chairman Jeff Kaufmann said the party is “committed to maintaining Iowa’s cherished caucuses, the first in the nation, and looks forward to holding a historic caucus in the coming months and defeating Joe Biden in November 2024”.
The campaign for support in Iowa is already underway: former President Donald Trump, former Vice President Mike Pence, former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, Miami Mayor Francis Saurez and radio host Larry Elder appeared at campaign events in Iowa last week.
Florida First Lady Casey DeSantis also hosted her first solo public event in Johnston, Iowa, on Thursday along with Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds, and Ron DeSantis and other Republicans have been a regular presence in the state in recent months.
Kaufmann, who spoke to reporters about the caucuses on Saturday afternoon in a Zoom call,
Republicans are keeping the same general framework for their 2024 primaries that they have used in recent years, with Iowa followed by the New Hampshire primary and then Nevada and South Carolina rounding out the GOP list of early voting states.
Since Iowa’s caucuses are run by parties, the state Republican Party’s decision has no bearing on the Democratic race in Iowa. The Democratic National Committee’s decision to change its primary schedule means Iowa Democrats will lose their caucus status. first in the nation, following the party’s longstanding concerns about the state’s diversity and problems with the vote count in 2020.
The new DNC schedule makes the South Carolina primary the first party-sanctioned nominating contest of 2024, followed later by New Hampshire and Nevada on the same day. But intraparty infighting in some states and Republican control in others make it difficult to implement the DNC’s preferred schedule.
Kaufmann, who spoke to reporters about the caucuses Saturday afternoon in a Zoom call, blamed President Joe Biden for jeopardizing Iowa’s status as first in the nation, saying “Biden mocked the Democrats and Iowans”.
“No matter what, Iowa Democrats are committed to moving forward with the most inclusive caucus process in Iowa history,” Iowa Democratic Party Chair Rita Hart said in her own statement. “We are committed to doing what is good for Democrats, what is good for Iowa and what is good for democracy.”
Kaufmann also said, when asked why the GOP caucuses are being held on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, that “we think this honors the legacy of Martin Luther King.”
