Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds signed a bill into law Thursday that requires the Iowa caucuses to be held in-person as Democrats are proposing choosing a presidential nominee by mail.
Republicans have said the law is needed to keep Iowa first in the country’s presidential nominating process.
“I applaud the legislature and Gov. Kim Reynolds for enacting legislation to preserve our First-in-the-Nation Caucus and cement Iowa’s commitment to the nearly half-century old agreement with the other carveout states,” Republican Party of Iowa Chair Jeff Kaufmann said in a statement.
New Hampshire officials have said if Iowa political parties do anything that too closely resembles a primary election, that state will jump ahead of Iowa in the nominating calendar to preserve its first-in-the-nation primary.
“Hopefully, today’s bill signing by the governor will mark an end to the Iowa Democrats pushing and then doubling down on an ill-advised, primary-in-all-but-name caucus proposal,” Kaufmann said. “The fate of middle Americans having a voice in selecting our next president depends on it.”
Iowa Democratic Party Chair Rita Hart said in a statement no political party can tell the other how to conduct its caucuses.
“For many years, Iowa Democrats have worked in good faith with the Republicans to preserve our caucuses,” she said. “This legislation ends decades of bipartisanship, and now Kim Reynolds has signed off on this attempt to meddle in Democratic party business.”
The Iowa Democratic Party proposed mail-in presidential preference card as part of its attempt to stay first in that party’s presidential nominating process. But the Democratic National Committee still voted to remove Iowafrom the group of early states.
“Iowa Democrats are committed to moving forward with the most inclusive caucus process in Iowa’s history no matter what,” Hart said. “We will do what’s good for Democrats, what’s good for Iowa, and what’s good for democracy.”
Iowa is still first in the nation for selecting a Republican presidential candidate in 2024.
The new law will require political party caucuses that are held before any other state’s nominating contest to be in-person, if the party decides to select its delegates that day as part of the presidential nominating process.
It also allows political parties to put restrictions on participation, such as requiring voters to register well in advance of the caucuses.
