The Iowa caucuses return to kick off the presidential primary season on Jan. 15, but not in the same way as before. After the catastrophic night that played out for Iowa Democrats in 2020, all eyes are now on Republicans as they uphold Iowa's first-in-the-nation status.
Here’s some background on the Iowa caucuses — what they are, why they matter, how they’ve changed for the 2024 race and how Iowans can participate.
What are the Iowa caucuses?
Iowa’s Republican and Democratic caucuses have officially kicked off the race for the White House for decades. That is, until this cycle. Last year, the Democratic National Committee voted to remove Iowa from the early window of presidential nominating states.
The Republican National Committee kept Iowa first in the nation for 2024.
The Iowa caucuses are gatherings of people at hundreds of precincts across the state. Unlike primary elections, which are run by states with voting throughout the day at polling places or by voting early, the Iowa caucuses are held in the evening and run by each political party — and for the Republican caucuses, voters must show up in person to participate.
On caucus night, participants at each precinct will choose a preferred candidate to represent their party in the presidential election.
For Iowa Republicans, the process will remain largely unchanged. For Democrats, because of the national party decision, the caucuses will look very different from years past.
The Republican caucuses
Iowa’s Republican caucuses will begin at 7 p.m. on Jan. 15. Only Iowa residents who are registered Republicans can participate in their designated home precincts, but Iowans can register to vote or change their party that day at their caucus site with a valid form of ID and proof of address. Iowans who are at least 18 years old, and those who will turn 18 by Nov. 5, can participate.
The caucuses begin with the election of a caucus chair and secretary, then quickly move into voting. During the caucus, participants have the opportunity to speak about why they support the candidate that they do, both stating their reasoning and encouraging other participants to choose their candidate.
After candidate representatives have a chance to speak, caucusgoers are handed a piece of paper on which they can write or select their preferred candidate.
Those votes are then tallied, announced at the caucus, and reported to party headquarters. The final results determine how many of Iowa’s 40 convention delegates each candidate gets. Even though Iowa makes up less than 2% of the nation’s Republican delegates, winning the first-in-the-nation caucuses can give a candidate a significant boost in campaign momentum, and has been known to knock out underperforming competition.
The Republican Party of Iowa plans to report real-time results online on Jan. 15.
The Democratic caucuses
Iowa Democratic Party members will also caucus on Jan. 15 at 7 p.m., the same day as Republicans, but the purpose of the gatherings will be for Democrats to conduct administrative party business and begin selecting delegates to national conventions. The presidential preference poll will be separate.
In the past, Democrats had to participate in person and stand in different parts of the room to indicate which presidential candidate they supported.
This year, Democrats will use “presidential preference cards” to choose their party’s presidential nominee through mail-in voting. Iowans have until Feb. 19 to request a preference card, and the party will start to mail those out on Jan. 12. Results will be announced on Super Tuesday, March 5.
How to participate
Need to register to vote? You can do that online.
If you’re not registered or aren't sure if you’re registered to vote, you can check your status online, too.
You'll need to find out what precinct you’re in, and from there, you can find the location of your caucus site. Once you know your precinct, you can find your caucus site here if you’re a Republican and here if you're a Democrat.
The Iowa GOP recommends arriving well before 7 p.m. to participate in the Republican caucuses. Remember to bring a valid form of ID.
Keep up with caucus news with Iowa Public Radio
You can keep up with the candidates and pre-caucus updates by following our liveblog.
Subscribe to our newsletter Political Sense to get weekly breakdowns of the latest in Iowa politics.
And learn more about the 2024 caucuses by listening to our podcast, Caucus Land.
