Iowa caucuses why so important

The Iowa caucus is important because it is the first time that voters around the country see how the candidates fare in a real contest, rather than just in polling averages.

But the state's voters do tend to pick the same candidate who eventually wins the Democratic nomination. In fact, the last Democrat to win the Iowa caucus but lose the nomination was an Iowan: Sen. Tom Harkin, who won the caucus in after his rivals did not seriously contest it. Bill Clinton, then governor of Arkansas, eventually won the party nomination while Harkin dropped out in March.

Iowa is not as predictive of the eventual president or of Republican nominees. Only former Presidents Jimmy Carter and Obama have won the presidency after winning the Iowa caucus in cycles dating to Clinton remains the only person in the modern era to have won the presidency despite losing both the Iowa caucus and the New Hampshire primary, which is traditionally the second contest of the race.

Among Republicans, the winners of the last three Iowa caucuses have failed to secure their party's nomination.

Ted Cruz of Texas won in , former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania won in and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee won in Skip Navigation.

Key Points. They will rank up to five choices for president and the total result of the six virtual caucuses will account for 10 percent of Iowa's caucus delegates. The GOP caucus process in Iowa is much simpler. Caucus-goers simply cast a vote for their candidate for president and the delegates are divide proportionally at the Republican National Convention. But Iowa isn't the only state to hold a caucus to select its party's nominees for president of the United States. Nine other states and three U.

The remaining states and territories will hold primary elections to choose their Democratic nominee, which they will present at the political national conventions.

Yet the votes cast by the residents who turn out for the Iowa caucus are so highly coveted that news agencies and political organizations take frequent polls to find out what the Iowans are thinking. So again, what makes Iowa so important?

The simplest answer may be that Iowa is the first state in the nation to show its support for candidates. George McGovern, the Democratic contender in the election, explained the significance of Iowa like this: "Iowa is terribly important. It's the first test in the nation, where we get any test at all. That test comes from real, everyday voters. The level of support a candidate receives in Iowa gives a reasonable indication of how they will perform with the rest of American voters.

The traditional thinking goes that if middle-American Iowans support a candidate, then that candidate has a chance with the rest of the nation. The results in Iowa can also tell a candidate how their platform is resonating with voters. The early timing gives candidates time to make adjustments to their campaign messaging should the response from voters signal they need to. A very poor showing in Iowa might force some candidates to bow out of the race.

A strong showing in Iowa also sends a message to the national party leaders. Each party seeks a strong contender for the White House, and a good response from Iowans helps cement a candidate's chances to win the national nomination. Being first in the nation certainly is important. But Iowa wasn't always first, and the votes cast by its residents in the caucus weren't always so important.

In , the Democratic Party changed its scheduling, and Iowa became the first state to hold its caucus. The resulting attention for the Democrats was great enough that the Republican Party also made Iowa first in the election, and since then, Iowa's importance has grown each election cycle. But to say that the importance of the Iowa caucus is entirely due to its status as first in the nation would be a mistake.

It also starts winnowing the field of candidates, which is particularly bloated this election. If a candidate performs better than expected, it can change their fortunes.

Then-Illinois Sen. Barack Obama defied the odds when he beat Hillary Clinton in Iowa in and eventually went on to win the nomination. Amy Klobuchar and Pete Buttigieg, will undoubtedly be hoping for the same surprise result in After months in second or third place, Vermont Sen.

Bernie Sanders has pulled away from the pack and is currently considered the favorite to win Iowa. RealClearPolitics, which provides a polling average , had Sanders in the lead Sunday with Elizabeth Warren in fourth with 15 percent. For the first time, the Iowa Democratic Party will release data from the first round of votes — showing whom people aligned with before their favorite was deemed nonviable or they were persuaded to back another candidate.

The party will also show how many delegates each candidate won. That means that if Biden loses Iowa but garners a similar number of delegates to Sanders, he can trumpet that as a quasi-win heading into New Hampshire. The Democratic Iowa caucuses have been the first nominating contest in the US since after a wild brawl broke out at the Democratic Nominating Convention in Chicago in After a tumultuous year that included the ongoing Vietnam War and the assassinations of the Rev.