Politics & Government

Large-Scale Iowa Caucuses Replace More Intimate Living-Room Gatherings

Political operatives have moved away from small caucuses in people's homes to large venues that can hold hundreds of caucus-goers.

Gone are the days of living-room caucuses in Iowa

By Lynn Campbell

IowaPolitics.com


DES MOINES — When Vonnie Kinkade hosted a presidential caucus at her Creston home, she served coffee and iced tea, and her garage was packed with about 30 people.

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But that was about 12 years ago, she said, when Republican George W. Bush won the Jan. 24, 2000, caucuses with nearly 41 percent of the vote.

Since then, organizers for the 1,774 precincts in Iowa's 99 counties have moved away from holding caucuses in people's homes. The vast majority of Iowa's first-in-the-nation GOP presidential caucuses on Jan. 3 will be held in public places like schools, churches, libraries, community halls and fire stations.

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"It's hard enough to get people to these things, let alone into people's houses," said Kinkade, 71, chairwoman of the Union County Republicans. "Women are working these days. They'd have to clean up their homes. It's a lot of work. They don't have time for it."

Union County, with 12,534 residents in south central Iowa, has nine precincts. Republicans will hold one caucus at the Lorimer community building and two caucuses at East Union School in Afton. The rest will be at the new middle school in Creston. Kinkade said holding caucuses at schools offers several advantages.

"There's more room. You can separate the precincts there, so they're each off in their own little section," she said. "If any speaker wants to come, they don't have to run to 10 different places; they can just go right to the school."

IowaPolitics.com's interviews with county Republican officials in every corner of the state revealed a similar story: Gone are the days of living-room caucuses.

Ryan Gough, caucus coordinator for the Republican Party of Iowa, told IowaPolitics.com that only two precinct caucuses of the 1,774 will be held in homes: one in Manilla in Crawford County in western Iowa and the other in Sigourney in Keokuk County in southeast Iowa.

"In more rural areas, that may still happen," said Cory Adams, chairman of the Story County Republicans. "In places like Ames, some precincts are expected to have over 500 people. That would be one heck of a living room to get 500 people in it. We'd be caucusing at Bill Gates' house."

Gates is the billionaire chairman of Microsoft, the software company he co-founded. He consistently ranks among the world's wealthiest people. He lives in a 66,000-square-foot home in Medina, Wash.

Adams, 34, of Ames, said his grandparents used to caucus at people's homes. He said his mom also remembers those days. But for Story County's 43 precincts, the caucuses will be in churches and schools. A list of those caucus locations was scheduled to be published Thursday in the Ames Tribune legal notices, and again next week.

"I've been going to caucuses for almost 30 years," said Carol Hill, 50, of Rock Rapids, a counselor who's also the GOP secretary in Lyon County, the most northwestern county of Iowa with 11,581 residents. "I've never heard of it being held in someone's home."

Republicans in Fremont County, a 7,441-resident county in far southwest Iowa, will caucus in four locations: a city hall, two schools and a library. A GOP official estimates that a living-room caucus hasn't been held for about eight years.

"In past times, there have been some times that they have been in private homes," said Judy Barrett, of Sydney, treasurer of the Fremont County Republicans. "The smaller towns maybe don't have even a community hall, so you have to improvise."

This is the third caucus cycle for Dave Cushman, of Durango, co-chairman of the Dubuque County Republicans. He said he never went to a living-room caucus.

Republicans in his county will caucus at Beckman Catholic Junior-Senior High School in Dyersville, Loras Alumni Campus Center and Washington Junior High School in Dubuque, and the Dubuque County Fairgrounds.

Pocahontas County in northwest Iowa will hold its 11 precinct caucuses at five sites, which include community centers and one city hall, said the Rev. Michael Ryan, of Pocahontas Regular Baptist Church, who's also chairman of the county Republicans there.

Precinct caucuses in the 7,570-resident Van Buren County in far southeast Iowa will be held at fire stations and libraries, said Jason Wells, the county's Republican chairman.

"Since I have become active in our county, we have not had caucuses anywhere except in a public building," said Debbie Larson, of Mount Ayr, chairwoman of the Ringgold County Republicans in southwest Iowa. "I've been active for 12 to 14 years, currently serving as county chair for the past two years."

Unlike the Iowa Democratic caucuses, in which people stand in groups and publicly declare their preference for a presidential candidate, most Republican precinct caucuses involve a simple, secret-ballot vote.

Participants first elect a caucus chairman and secretary, and then each campaign is allowed to have one surrogate or volunteer speak on behalf of his or her candidate. After a discussion, caucusgoers vote for their choice for president, elect delegates to the county convention and can bring resolutions to redefine their party platform.

"I'm excited to caucus. We have a lot of candidates, a lot of choices," said Hill, of Lyon County, a lifelong Iowan who's backing former Pennsylvania U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum for the 2012 Republican nomination for president. "I'm 100 percent committed to my candidate. I'm hoping to convince a lot of attendees to vote for him."

Here is a list of caucus locations.


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