Posted on 01/22/2010 1:46:31 PM PST by iowamark
The 2010 Iowa caucuses at 1 p.m. this Saturday will be more low-profile because party activists won’t be caucusing for a presidential candidate, but there is a possibility in this off-year that delegates elected could play an important role in the state’s gubernatorial and congressional races.
“I certainly anticipate both the gubernatorial campaigns and the congressional primary campaigns are getting their most active supporters out to precinct caucuses, in addition to preparing for the potential for these nominations to be decided at conventions,” said Republican Party of Iowa Chairman Matt Strawn.
Iowa law calls for a convention if a single candidate doesn’t secure at least 35 percent of the vote. The Republican gubernatorial primary field currently has four candidates, which could increase the chance of the nomination being decided at convention.
Former Gov. Terry Branstad’s campaign was pushing caucus attendance at his official campaign kick-off on Tuesday, which featured a table of caucus literature.
“We are strongly encouraging all Republicans to attend their local precinct caucuses,” said Branstad spokesman Tim Albrecht. “There is no stronger endorsement for the caucuses than the fact that the governor himself will participate in his home caucus in Boone County.”
Meanwhile, Eric Woolson, spokesman for Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Vander Plaats, said he’s not concerned about the Republican gubernatorial primary going to convention.
“I'm convinced that the GOP gubernatorial contest will be settled on June 8, and that Bob Vander Plaats will prevail with a plurality, if not a majority, of the vote,” Woolson said.
A convention is also possible in the race for the Republican nomination in Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District, with six men lining up to challenge U.S. Rep. Leonard Boswell, D-Des Moines; as well as in the 2nd Congressional District, where three candidates are vying for the right to challenge Rep. Dave Loebsack, D-Mount Vernon.
State Sen. Brad Zaun, R-Urbandale, said he plans on having someone stand up in every precinct in Polk County and surrounding counties to voice their support for his run in the 3rd Congressional District. But he said he organized supporters to speak on his behalf because it’s an appropriate time and Republican activists will be present - not in preparation for a possible convention.
“Certainly it’s always a possibility, but I don’t think that is what’s going to happen,” Zaun said. “But it is a possibility. The way you win these elections is based on your grassroots organization, and that’s what we’ve been working on and will continue to work on.”
In 2002, U.S. Rep. Steve King, R-Kiron, won the Republican nomination on the third ballot at a 5th Congressional District nominating convention after he only took 30 percent of the vote in a four-way primary that included state Sen. John Redwine and House Speaker Brent Siegrist.
And a state convention in the governor’s race was narrowly avoided in 2002 when Doug Gross won the Republican gubernatorial nomination with 35.6 percent of the vote against just two other candidates, Vander Plaats and Steve Sukup.
Strawn said he believes a competitive primary is a healthy process for Iowa Republicans, and it’s too early to tell how a convention could affect the eventual Republican nominee’s chances against Gov. Chet Culver, Boswell or Loebsack.
“I don’t think it hurt the Democratic Party that Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton had one of the most contested primaries in the history of politics last year,” he said.
Those attending this weekend's precinct caucuses will vote on county central committee members, elect delegates to county conventions and discuss the party’s platform.
The Iowa Democratic Party on Friday released details of where key Democrats will caucus: Gov. Chet Culver and U.S. Rep. Leonard Boswell will caucus at Merrill Middle School in Des Moines, while Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Roxanne Conlin will caucus at Southwestern Community College in Burlington.
Meanwhile, former Republican Gov. Terry Branstad will participate in his caucus in Boone, while Republican Party of Iowa Chairman Matt Strawn plans to be at his local precinct caucus at Parkview Middle School in Ankeny.
State party chairmen say this Saturday’s caucuses will be an experiment aimed at increasing participation in the event and any chance of moving the event to a Saturday in 2012 will depend on a careful analysis of that experiment. Some have been critical of holding the caucuses on a Saturday -- particularly members of the Jewish faith, for whom Saturdays are a day of rest.
“Certainly we’re respectful for those people of differing faiths or that have other obligations that prevent them from attending, but again its something we’re going to try as a test in this caucus process and see where it goes from there,” Strawn said.
Iowa Democratic Party Chairman Michael Kiernan said holding the caucuses on a Saturday is an idea that has been thrown around for years, and a decision was made that a non-presidential year would be the best time to test a different process.
“We have taken everything into consideration, we have listened to other interest groups that might have objected to the Saturday caucus, but we made the commitment that we’ll review how this goes and then we can say that we did try it out,” he said.
Kiernan said just trying out a Saturday caucus is an important step for the Iowa Democratic Party, as the Democratic National Committee has often called for the change. If nothing else, Kiernan said, he could take the results back to the DNC and say that he tried it.
“This is something that the national committee has wanted to see for years,” Kiernan said. “It’s been one of the major criticisms of the caucuses in the past, so we felt in an off year it was a good time to experiment with it.”
Allowing absentee voting is another change the caucuses could see, although not this year. Strawn said one of the strengths of the caucuses is integrity, and he has concerns about maintaining that.
“Anything we take a look at, again, if it increases voter participation that is one thing we may want to at least investigate, but we need to make sure that the process is secure and we have that integrity built in that can not be attacked,” Strawn said.
Kiernan said absentee voting is a possibility, and a conversation is taking place at the national level in the Democratic Party on that issue. But he also said there are dangers associated with that move, and he doesn’t want the rest of the country to perceive Iowa moving to a primary process.
“There’s no doubt that early voting has played a role in the strategy of the Democratic Party and it allows for increased participation, but the caucuses are different and we want to make sure that we keep that distinction there,” Kiernan said.
http://www.iowagop.org/site/c.ruIWKbMYIvF/b.5647801/k.BF3C/Find_Your_Location.htm
Find your precinct caucus location
I am going to my caucus tomorrow.
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