Full Reading: Week 2, Section 1

How Caucuses Work

Dr. Steffen Schmidt 

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Several states use the caucus system instead of primaries to identify the top party contender for the US President. Caucuses are more “community-oriented” than primaries. Primaries simply require voters to stop by at their local polling place, vote and then go about their business. These polling places are usually open from 7 in the morning until the early evening. The Iowa caucuses take place usually in the month of January at 7 in the evening, Central Standard Time on a designated day and require voters to physically show up for what amounts to a meeting of fellow partisans. 

The word “caucus” has several dictionary definitions including:

1. “A group of people with shared concerns within a political party or larger organization.”
2. “A meeting of the members of a legislative body who are members of a particular political party, to select candidates or decide policy.” The Oxford Dictionary of Difficult Words By Archie Hobson.

When party members arrive at their designated caucus site, it said that they are involved in a “communal political experience” or "gatherings of neighbors." This means they actually greet neighbors of their same political affiliation, interact with them, and then proceed to vote for the presidential candidate of their choice.

“Although the exact origin of the word is still unknown, it is often said that caucus comes from “cau´-cau-as´u”—the Algonquin word for "counsel." The term probably introduced into political usage in the United States through the Democratic Party in New York known as Tammany Hall, an organization which commonly adopted Native American terms to suit their own purposes. However, there are also some people who attribute the term to the Latin word “caucus” that means, “drinking vessel.” These people say the phrase was first used to describe political activity by the Caucus Club of Boston.” (www.yourdictionary.com Links to an external site.)

In Iowa, there are 1,774 political precincts. These are defined as designated voting places. When I first became a professor at Iowa State University the Iowa Presidential caucuses were actually held at private homes, churches, schools, local meeting halls, fire stations and other places in each of these precincts.  The reason was that the weather could be very brutal in Iowa in January when the caucuses are normally scheduled. Snow, winds, freezing rain make it a real challenge for citizens to participate in their caucus. Therefore, proximity to voter’s homes was seen as an important part of this “neighbor democracy.”

The Iowa caucuses are very important in American democracy, because this is the first concrete test of the strengths and weaknesses of candidates in each party. The media cover these events extensively and therefore can give candidates important publicity and momentum.

In Iowa, voters registered as Democratic and Republican may attend and vote at their respective caucuses. Actually, anyone eligible to vote living in the precinct can attend and change their registration to the party of the caucus they are attending when they arrive at the caucus venue. They can change their registration back to their choice (for example no-party) at any time after the caucus is over. Minors can vote if they are 18-years-old on election day in November.

The Democrats and Republicans follow different procedures in their caucuses.

The Republican caucus is fairly simple and straightforward.  Voters can make brief speeches in favor of their preferred candidate. Then, very quickly everyone writes their choice on scraps of paper, and the designated party officers at the caucus count the secret votes by hand. Minor candidate spelling mistakes are permitted. These officials then call in the results to the Republican Party caucus headquarters where they are compiled and reported to the news media.

Since the process is relatively informal, there have been efforts to make some of the procedures more formal, such as having printed ballots and upgrading the reporting process so that mistakes, such as were made by several Republican caucuses in 2010 are not repeated.

The results of the vote are really a preference poll. The other activities at caucuses are party business related to the upcoming party platform, fund raising and other “business.” The poll measures the strength of Republican candidates in each of the caucuses. The results are reported and whichever contender wins the largest number of caucuses is declared the winner.

Then each Republican caucus elects delegates who go to the 99 county conventions. Both parties have their county conventions in March. At the county convention, delegates are elected who go to the Republican Party state convention. Both parties have their state conventions in June. 

It is only after the state convention that delegates vote for the delegates to the national party convention, where Presidential candidates are actually declared the winner. In other words, the caucuses give great visibility to a candidate BUT the number of actual delegates a candidate receives at the end of this arduous process is NOT really decided in January at the caucuses.

However, winner of the Iowa caucuses normally, but not always, are propelled to political success when they move on from Iowa and start collecting delegates in new Hampshire, South Carolina, Nevada and other caucuses (some other states such as Louisianan also have caucuses later in the process) or primaries which are the most common tool for selecting delegates.

It is important to note here that contenders don’t have to come in first in the Iowa caucuses to do well going forward but a candidate must come in first, second or third. Actually, the only Republican nominee since 1972 who did not finish in the top three in Iowa was John McCain in 2008. Also, winning in Iowa and getting the party nomination does not, of course, mean a candidate will win the actual election in November as McCain and in 2010 Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney’s cases suggest.

The Democratic caucuses follow a different procedure. 

At each Democratic caucus individuals circulate in the room, greet each other, and chat. In some small caucuses there may be homemade cookies and warm apple cider or hot chocolate. I remember caucuses in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s that were more like an evening get together at a neighbors house. I attended as many in both parties over the years as a guest, researcher, and often as a friend.

I remember a 1976 caucus that I attended. The caucus members met in a comfortable living room. A fire was glowing in a big, open fireplace while the wind howled outside. The hot chocolate was either “virgin” or could be “spiked” with peppermint schnapps! I opted for the latter. The discussion was cordial and among friends and neighbors HOWEVER there was an edginess as well, because some of the folks were strong supporters of Georgia Governor Jimmy Carter, who was a born again Christian, which did not sit well with some of the very secular Democrats at this caucus. The arguments pro and con were passionate but civilized.

A very important characteristic of the Iowa caucuses is that they are not a process that lends itself to high tech “wholesale politics” such as the Internet or expensive television and newspaper media campaigning. The caucuses have correctly been called “retail politics” in which candidates must campaign personally, county by county, local café or diner one at a time, shaking hands and introducing themselves and letting voters ask them questions. Presidential contender and caucus winner former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum visited all 99 Iowa counties and is a great example of how this process works. Jimmy Carter was referred to at the start of his campaign as “Jimmy WHO?!” So he had to introduce himself to Iowa voters. 

I vividly remember the blistering hot summer leading up to the caucuses. We were at a friend’s farm in Story County sitting under some huge Oak and walnut trees in the shade drinking iced tea and grilling.  Down the long and tree lines farm road, which led to the paved county road, we noticed a small group of people on bicycles slowly making their way towards us. The farm dogs barked but behaved themselves. The entourage finally made it to where we were sitting and a gentleman got off his bicycle, took off his helmet and came over to us. “Hi! My name is Jimmy Carter and I’m running for President,” he said. After introducing his family and campaign aide he handed us a flier, wished us a good day and biked off down the road to the next farmhouse and the next introduction to potential caucus voters. That’s what Iowa caucus “retail politics” is actually all about. Selling yourself to one voter at a time in a very personal way.

Carter eventually “won” the Iowa caucuses getting 27.7 percent of the vote, the highest among five candidates. Other candidates included Indiana Senator Birch Bayh, (13%), Fred R. Harris of Oklahoma (10%), Morris "Mo" Udall U.S. Representative from Arizona (6%), Sargent Shriver (3%) the 1972 Vice Presidential running mate of Presidential candidate George McGovern, Sen., Henry M. Jackson (1%) U.S. Congressman and Senator from the state of Washington.  Jimmy Carter “won” and it was a spectacular media event because he started as virtually a complete unknown. Remember that you don’t need a majority to win; just get more votes than any other contender. However “Uncommitted” actually received 37% of the votes around the state!

In these small precincts with the blazing fire, hot chocolate, home made apple and cherry pie everyone in the room will know everyone else. They live close by and may be members of other organizations, their kids probably have gone to the same school, they cheer for the same high school football and basketball teams, and they may attend the same church. This is true “grass roots” politics.

Another characteristic of the caucuses is that those attending are very politically informed and highly motivated to participate in the political process not just by voting or attending caucuses but also helping raise money for candidates, canvassing neighborhood households for elections, attending party events, writing letters to newspapers, blogging, tweeting, and certainly vigorously discussing issues on Facebook. I will add here that while those who vote in primaries such as New Hampshire are also “above average” in their political motivations, primaries take much less effort and “casually political” individuals will stop by their polling place and vote.

Part of what folks are doing in the opening minutes of a caucus, before the meeting formally begins, is that they are trying to convince other neighbors to vote for the candidate of their choice. For example, in 2008 supporters of former Senator Hillary Clinton would talk to their neighbors about the strengths Clinton would bring to the race for the White House. Illinois Senator Barack Obama’s supporters did the same for his candidacy.  Former Senator John Edwards was a strong show as well but his affair with a campaign videographer with whom he has a child and the delicate health condition of his wife, who had cancer derailed his effort.  Former Governor Bill Richardson, Senator Joe Biden, and Connecticut Senator Christopher Dodd also presented themselves as contenders.

Supporters of each candidate, upon instruction of the caucus officials, then gather in separate groups in different parts of the caucus venue according to which candidate they are supporting.  Candidates receiving 15% support from the individuals in the meeting will be “eligible” or “viable” for the next step.  Individuals who are undecided will be heavily lobbied by supporters of one of the stronger candidates and asked to join one of the “viable” groups already formed.

Now pay close attention, because here is where the Democratic caucuses have gotten really complicated or even confusing.

The excellent site Iowacaucus.biz, How the Democratic and Republican Presidential Caucus Work for Iowa Participants Links to an external site., describes delegate selection in the democratic caucuses this way:

“This procedure of determining the percentage of support for each candidate may take some discussion until the process of elimination leaves a handful of candidates with no less then 15% support. This number will be broken down based upon the number of delegates that this particular caucus is representing. For instance, if a caucus is heavily populated, there may be 4 or more delegates to be elected, and so a group would need 15% of the participants in that caucus in order to qualify; If a caucus is electing only 2 delegates, a group would need 25% to qualify; and if a caucus is electing only 1 delegate, a group would need 50% of the participants to qualify.” 

One reason for the confusion regarding caucus results stems from the complex mathematics that is required to determine the number of delegates each contender is awarded.

Once the caucus calculates the percentages and number of delegates, the caucus officer reports the results to the Democratic Party caucus headquarters. The state party now calculates the “winner” and the rankings of Democratic contenders for the nomination. The news media anxiously awaits these results, reports them, and then the reporters, camera crew, sound operators, and other assorted staff, which varies from one reporter to an entire crew for the major news outlets, rushes to the Des Moines International airport and they fly off to New Hampshire. Here, in Manchester, they will set up an equally elaborate media operation to report the results of the New Hampshire Presidential primary, which takes place two weeks after the Iowa caucuses. 

After the caucuses, the elected delegates will move on to the County Convention in each of the 99 Iowa counties. Here more party business will be debated and voted upon and then delegates will be elected for the District Convention. The “districts” are currently the four Congressional districts. Iowa has lost two seats in the past 20 years after the decennial national population census, because Iowa’s population has not grown as fast as other states that have in turn gained congressional seats. When I first attended and researched caucuses, Iowa had six members of the House of Representatives, hence there were six districts.

Again the 15% rule discussed above requires 15% of the delegates for a candidate to be declared “viable.” Finally, delegates are elected for the democratic State Convention where the delegates for the National Convention are elected.

The caucus process is much more complicated than a primary. But it inspires interest precisely because it requires so much citizen effort and is seen as a great example of classic American participatory democracy. The caucuses are very Jeffersonian. The founding father and the third US President Thomas Jefferson believed in a republic and was a passionate advocate of equality of political opportunity, especially for the romanticized "yeoman farmer", "planters" and the "plain folk". Clearly Jefferson would be very pleased that a “farm state” and a rural state like Iowa with many small towns and rural “folks” has had such a visible and important role to play in the selection of American Presidential candidates.

In recent years for logistical reasons, the number of “homey” caucuses has declined as the parties consolidate caucus meeting places in larger facilities such as schools where many different precincts can meet. In 2012 caucuses for the over 1,700 precincts were actually held in about 800 locations (Source: How does Iowa caucus work, and how did it get to be so important?) Links to an external site.

I think that consolidation is a mistake because it begins to eat away at the truly grass roots nature of the process.

I should also note that both the Republican and Democratic parties can tweak the exact procedures, for example, the type of ballot used to vote at the caucuses. We need to track the details of the 2016 caucuses for the last improvements that are made.

 Test yourself on How Caucuses Work

Videos

• Interview with A J Spiker, former Chairman of the Republican Party of Iowa
• Interview with Mary Richards, caucus enthusiast and witness to the first Iowa Caucuses