The 2024 Iowa Democratic presidential caucuses were held as part of the

Democratic Party primaries This is a list of Democratic Party presidential primaries. 1912 This was the first time that candidates were chosen through primaries. New Jersey Governor Woodrow Wilson ran to become the nominee, and faced the opposition of Speaker of the Un ...

for the

2024 presidential election This is a list of elections that were held in 2024. The National Democratic Institute also maintains a calendar of elections around the world. *2024 United Nations Security Council election *2024 national electoral calendar *2024 local electoral ...

. In this cycle, in-person caucuses focusing only on party business were held on January 15, but voting on candidates was being done exclusively via

mail-in ballot Postal voting is voting in an election where ballot papers are distributed to electors (and typically returned) by post, in contrast to electors voting in person at a polling station or electronically via an electronic voting system. In an ele ...

s from January 12 until

Super Tuesday Super Tuesday is the United States presidential primary election day in February or March when the greatest number of U.S. states hold primary elections and caucuses. Approximately one-third of all delegates to the presidential nominatin ...

, March 5, 2024. This was the result of a compromise between the

Iowa Democratic Party The Iowa Democratic Party (IDP) is the affiliate of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party in the U.S. state of Iowa. The party organizes the Democratic Iowa caucuses, Iowa presidential caucuses. In recent years, the party has l ...

and the

Democratic National Committee The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is the principal executive leadership board of the United States's Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party. According to the party charter, it has "general responsibility for the affairs of the ...

(DNC). Iowa traditionally holds its race first during the presidential primary and caucuses season, but the DNC wanted South Carolina to instead hold its race first. 46 delegates to the

Democratic National Convention The Democratic National Convention (DNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 18 ...

were allocated to presidential candidates. Incumbent

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

announced his bid for a second term on April 25, 2023. He faced a primary challenge from author, progressive activist, and

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

presidential candidate

Marianne Williamson Marianne Deborah Williamson (born July 8, 1952) is an American author, speaker, and political activist. She began her professional career as a spiritual leader of the Church of Today, a Unity Church in Warren, Michigan. Williamson has written s ...

, and Representative

Dean Phillips Dean Benson Phillips ( Pfefer; born January 20, 1969) is an American politician, businessman, philanthropist, and former presidential candidate who served from 2019 to 2025 as the U.S. representative for . A member of the Democratic Party, Phi ...

. All three candidates filed to appear on the mail-in ballot and were certified by the filing deadline on December 1, 2023 - along with a choice to vote for "

Uncommitted Uncommitted, may refer to: * Uncommitted (song), recorded by South Korean singer XIA *Uncommitted (voting option) "Uncommitted" is a voting option in some United States presidential primaries. This option is listed along with the names of individ ...

". Joe Biden won the primary, along with all 40 pledged delegates.

Scheduling controversy

President

sent a letter on December 1, 2022, to the

(DNC), requesting that "diversity" should be emphasized in the

2024 Democratic Party presidential primaries From January 23 to June 8, 2024, presidential primaries and caucuses were organized by the Democratic Party to select the delegates to the 2024 Democratic National Convention, to determine the party's nominee for president in the 2024 United ...

, shifting Iowa's traditional status of the first state to hold a caucus. A December 2022 vote by the DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee the following day approved the change. On February 4, 2023, the DNC approved a new 2024 primary calendar, moving South Carolina to hold its race first on February 3. Iowa, which traditionally goes first, would then be held later in the primary season. Members of the

and the

New Hampshire Democratic Party The New Hampshire Democratic Party (NHDP) is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the U.S. state of New Hampshire. Its chair is Raymond Buckley, and its vice chairs are Maura Sullivan and Donovan Fenton. The most recent Democratic governor ...

opposed the move, since they would no longer be the first two states to hold their races. Lee Saunders, a member of the Rules and Bylaws Committee who was in favor of the change, said that adjusting the calendar will give a truer representation of the composition of the country. Under normal circumstances, the

Iowa caucuses The Iowa caucuses are quadrennial electoral events for the Democratic and Republican parties in the U.S. state of Iowa. Unlike primary elections, where registered voters cast ballots at polling places on election day, Iowa caucuses are ...

operate very differently from

primary election Primary elections or primaries are elections held to determine which candidates will run in an upcoming general election. In a partisan primary, a political party selects a candidate. Depending on the state and/or party, there may be an "open pr ...

s used in most other U.S. states. Instead of going to polling places to cast ballots, Iowans instead gather in-person at local caucus meetings to discuss and vote on the candidates, which are typically held at selected schools, churches, public libraries, or even individuals' houses. In response to the chaotic 2020 Iowa caucuses and the DNC's new rules and calendar, the Iowa Democratic Party initially planned to allow voting-by-mail for the first time, hoping to gain a better spot on the primary calendar through closely abiding by the new rules and enlarging their voter base. They speculate that in doing so they could take the spot of another planned early state that fails to meet the date expected by the DNC. However, in early June 2023, the Republican-controlled

state legislature A state legislature is a Legislature, legislative branch or body of a State (country subdivision), political subdivision in a Federalism, federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of ...

and Iowa Governor

Kim Reynolds Kimberly Kay Reynolds (née Strawn, August 4, 1959) is an American politician from Iowa. A Republican, Reynolds has served since 2017 as the 43rd governor of Iowa. She is the first female governor in Iowa history. Reynolds was elected Clarke ...

signed a new bill into law requiring the caucuses to be held in person in order to force Iowa Democrats not to follow the DNC plan and to secure Iowa's first-in-the-nation status. Iowa Democrats wanted to hold the caucus in person, select delegates and complete party business, fulfilling the law, while they would still organize the presidential preference vote by mail-in cards and officially declare the results during the later timeframe sanctioned by the DNC. On October 6, the DNC and the Iowa Democratic Party reached a compromise in which the in-person caucuses could still be held in January, but delegate-determining voting were held through the mail until

, March 5.

Opinion polling

Results

Notes

References

{{2024 Democratic presidential primaries

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

Democratic caucus

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

Iowa Democratic caucuses Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

Scheduling controversy

Opinion polling

Results

See also

Notes

References