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The Republican Party of Iowa will hold its first-in-the-nation caucus on Jan. 15, the party announced Saturday.
“We remain committed to maintaining Iowa’s cherished first-in-the-nation caucuses and look forward to holding a historic caucus in the coming months and defeating Joe Biden come November 2024,” Republican Party of Iowa Chairman Jeff Kaufmann said in an emailed statement.
The Republican National Committee has been firm that Iowa Republicans will hold the first caucus of the 2024 cycle. But the Democratic National Committee plans to completely reshuffle the party’s nominating calendar, booting Iowa from the premier spot and potentially creating disruptions for both parties.
What does this mean for Iowa Democrats?
For decades, Iowa Democrats and Republicans have held their caucuses on the same night.
The Democratic National Committee decided last year to shuffle the calendar, ousting Iowa from spot at the front of the line. Instead, the DNC wants to hold the first contest in South Carolina.
Iowa Democrats proposed changes to the caucus process, allowing for mail-in participation and appeasing the national party’s desire for Iowa to move closer to a primary system. The Iowa Democratic Party said in May it would propose holding a caucus the same night as Iowa Republicans — now set as Jan. 15.
But it’s unclear how a Jan. 15 Democratic caucus would go over with the DNC or with New Hampshire, which has threatened to leap ahead of Iowa if the caucus changes veer too close to a primary.
Iowa Republican lawmakers passed a bill to bar mail-in participation for a first-in-the-nation caucus. Democrats have said their plan doesn’t violate that law, as they still intend to meet in person on caucus night — even though the presidential selection process will occur through mailed “presidential preference cards.”
Iowa Democrats have not announced when they will tally and announce the results of the presidential preference cards. They have suggested it could be on caucus night or on a different night entirely.
“After our state legislature and governor took needed action earlier this year to preempt Iowa Democrats’ plans to derail the Iowa caucus by running a de facto primary election instead, we are also proud to affirm that Iowa will continue to honor our half-century-old promises to the other carveout states,” Kaufmann said in a statement.
The Iowa Democratic Party did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Saturday.
This story will be updated.
Brianne Pfannenstiel contributed reporting.
Katie Akin is a politics reporter for the Register. Reach her atkakin@registermedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at @katie_akin.
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