RNC Votes Unanimously to Keep Iowa Caucuses First in 2024
DES MOINES, IA (Radio Iowa) The Republican National Committee has unanimously voted to have the Iowa REPUBLICAN Party’s Caucuses be the first voting event in the next presidential election.
“The Republican Party of Iowa has proven that they can handle this honor and I can tell you we are going to be ready to go for 2024.” That’s Governor Kim Reynolds. She joined Iowa G-O-P chairman Jeff Kaufmann (COUGH-man) to discuss the decision national party leaders made Thursday. Kaufmann was chairman of a panel that made the recommendation that Iowa, followed by New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina retain their positions at the front of the G-O-P’s presidential selection process.
“If we want geographic diversity, if we want to make sure that we have a process by which all parts of the country are included,” Kaufmann says, “this was the route to go.” This G-O-P decision comes as the DEMOCRATIC National Committee launched a plan to have five states with racially diverse populations that may be toss ups states in the 2024 presidential election go first. Kaufmann says Iowa Democrats have a chance to make the case that their party’s Caucuses should remain in the lead-off position,
“Look, I stand beside my Democratic colleagues — my Iowa Democratic colleagues,” Kaufmann says. “This resistence isn’t coming from Iowa Democrats. This resistance is coming from the national Democrats who don’t quite get that Iowa isn’t flyover country.” And Kaufmann argues Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada represent geographic and racial diversity and feature face-to-face, retail campaigning rather than just a barrage of ads.
“If you want to look an elementary student in the eye and tell them they can become president some day, you cannot start in a large state,” Kaufmann says. Governor Reynolds says the Iowa Caucus campaign isn’t about big party donors or influencers on the east or west coast.
“We’ve already been hosting candidates and we’re certainly ready to welcome a lot more,” Reynolds says. Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, a potential 2024 candidate, was in Council Bluffs yesterday. And President Biden — the presumptive nominee for Democrats in 2024 — was in Iowa this past Tuesday.