The 2024 Iowa Republican presidential caucuses were held on January 15, 2024, as part of the Republican Party primaries for the 2024 presidential election. 40 delegates to the

2024 Republican National Convention The 2024 Republican National Convention is an event in which delegates of the United States Republican Party will select the party's nominees for president and vice president in the 2024 United States presidential election. It is planned to b ...

will be allocated on a proportional basis. As in past primary cycles, the

Iowa caucuses The Iowa caucuses are biennial electoral events for members of the Democratic and Republican parties in the U.S. state of Iowa. Unlike primary elections in most other U.S. states, where registered voters go to polling places to cast ballots ...

were the first-in-the-nation Republican presidential nominating contest. The results were a

landslide victory A landslide victory is an election result in which the victorious candidate or party wins by an overwhelming margin. The term became popular in the 1800s to describe a victory in which the opposition is "buried", similar to the way in which a geol ...

for

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of ...

, with his 30-point margin being the largest margin of victory ever for a non-incumbent in the Iowa Republican caucuses. Trump won 20 delegates,

Ron DeSantis Ronald Dion DeSantis (; born September 14, 1978) is an American politician serving as the 46th governor of Florida since January 2019. A member of the Republican Party, DeSantis represented Florida's 6th district in the U.S. House of Represe ...

won nine,

Nikki Haley Nimrata Nikki Haley ( née Randhawa; born January 20, 1972) is an American diplomat and politician who served as the 116th and first female governor of South Carolina from 2011 to 2017, and as the 29th United States ambassador to the United N ...

won eight, and Vivek Ramaswamy won three. Trump also became the first Republican ever to win a contested Iowa caucus with a majority of the vote, and third person of either major political party to do so (the others being

Tom Harkin Thomas Richard Harkin (born November 19, 1939) is an American lawyer, author, and politician who served as a United States senator from Iowa from 1985 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously was the U.S. representative for Iow ...

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment building in Amsterdam after two of its engines ...

, and Al Gore in

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

). Analysts described the results as establishing him as the Republican Party's

presumptive nominee In United States politics and government, the term presidential nominee has two different meanings: # A candidate for president of the United States who has been selected by the delegates of a political party at the party's national convention (a ...

, with both DeSantis's and Haley's campaigns seen as heavily damaged. Trump also won 98 out of Iowa's 99 counties, losing Johnson County to Haley by a single vote. Ramaswamy announced the suspension of his campaign the night of the caucus, endorsing Trump. Ramaswamy will retain his three expected delegates.

Asa Hutchinson William Asa Hutchinson II (, '' AY-sə''; born December 3, 1950) is an American attorney, businessman, and politician who is the 46th and current governor of Arkansas. A member of the Republican Party, he was the U.S. attorney for the Fort Smit ...

, who finished with less than 1% of the vote, dropped out the following day. DeSantis dropped out the following weekend and endorsed Trump.

Background and electorate

History of the Iowa caucus

Beginning in 1972, the

have been characterized as the first major electoral test for Republican presidential contenders. Despite its strategic importance, between

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phil ...

and 2016, only three out of eight winners of the Iowa caucuses went on to receive the Republican presidential nomination.

Republican electorate

It has been argued that the Iowa Republican caucuses effectively serve as "referendums on who is the most

socially conservative Social conservatism is a political philosophy and variety of conservatism which places emphasis on traditional power structures over social pluralism. Social conservatives organize in favor of duty, traditional values and social instituti ...

candidate" in the Republican field. Commentators have noted in the 2010s the decisive role of

Evangelical Christian Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "born again", in which an individual experi ...

caucusgoers in past contests. The victory of social conservatives George W. Bush,

Mike Huckabee Michael Dale Huckabee (born August 24, 1955) is an American politician, Baptist minister, and political commentator who served as the 44th governor of Arkansas from 1996 to 2007. He was a candidate for the Republican Party presidential nominat ...

Rick Santorum Richard John Santorum ( ; born May 10, 1958) is an American politician, attorney, and political commentator. A member of the Republican Party, he served as a United States Senator from Pennsylvania from 1995 to 2007 and was the Senate's third ...

Ted Cruz Rafael Edward "Ted" Cruz (; born December 22, 1970) is an American politician and attorney serving as the junior United States Senator from Texas since 2013. A member of the Republican Party, Cruz served as Solicitor General of Texas from ...

and

in the

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing ...

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

, 2016 and

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in ...

Iowa caucuses, respectively, was credited to their strong support among evangelical voters. In 2016, it was noted by ''

The Des Moines Register ''The Des Moines Register'' is the daily morning newspaper of Des Moines, Iowa. History Early period The first newspaper in Des Moines was the ''Iowa Star''. In July 1849, Barlow Granger began the paper in an abandoned log cabin by the junction ...

'' that almost half of likely Republican caucusgoers self-identify as evangelical or

born-again Born again, or to experience the new birth, is a phrase, particularly in evangelicalism, that refers to a "spiritual rebirth", or a regeneration of the human spirit. In contrast to one's physical birth, being "born again" is distinctly and se ...

Christians. In the 2016 Iowa Republican caucus, Senator

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

defeated eventual nominee

by a 27.6% to 24.3% margin in what was considered an upset victory.

Procedure

Delegates are proportionally allocated to candidates based on the statewide vote. Unlike most states, there is no minimum threshold for a candidate to be eligible for delegates.

Campaign developments

In February 2023, the Trump campaign announced its Iowa campaign staff, with state representative

Bobby Kaufmann Bobby Kaufmann (born 1985) is the Iowa State Representative from the 82nd District. A Republican, he has served in the Iowa House of Representatives The Iowa House of Representatives is the lower house of the Iowa General Assembly, the upper ...

and consultant

Eric Branstad Eric Branstad (born 1975) is an American political consultant, lobbyist, and public relations professional. He is the son of Terry Branstad, the former Governor of Iowa and US Ambassador to China. In 2023, it was announced that he would serve ...

, the son of former Governor

Terry Branstad Terry Edward Branstad (born November 17, 1946) is an American politician and former diplomat. A member of the Republican Party, he served three terms in the Iowa House of Representatives from 1973 to 1979 before serving as governor of Iowa fr ...

, serving as senior advisors. In March 2023, Trump's campaign announced that it would hold an " America First Education Policy" event in Davenport on March 13, marking his first official campaign appearance in the state.

had held 22 events in Iowa by May 19, 2023. Her campaign made ad buys of $10 million in Iowa and New Hampshire beginning in December 2023. On December 8, Haley addressed a convention center conference where she stated her campaign had momentum and needed "to have a good showing in Iowa. I don’t think that means we have to win, necessarily, but I think that we have to have a good showing." Governor of Florida

held a pair of events in the state on March 10 and was accompanied by Governor

Kim Reynolds Kimberly Kay Reynolds (née Strawn; born August 4, 1959) is an American politician serving as the 43rd governor of Iowa since 2017. A member of the Republican Party, Reynolds served as the 46th lieutenant governor of Iowa from 2011 to 2017. Befo ...

. Reynolds remained neutral between Trump and DeSantis, which caused Trump to post on

Truth Social Truth Social (stylized as TRUTH Social) is a social media platform created by Trump Media & Technology Group, an American media and technology company founded in October 2021 by former U.S. president Donald Trump. It has been called a competitor ...

accusing her of stealing the race from him and that like DeSantis, she would not have been elected without Trump's help. Reynolds broke her neutrality in November 2023 and endorsed DeSantis. Between October and December, DeSantis toured all 99 Iowan counties. In December, DeSantis' wife,

Casey DeSantis Jill Casey DeSantis (''née'' Black, born June 26, 1980) is an American former news and television show host who is the first lady of Florida. She is the wife of the 46th governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis. Early life and education Jill Casey B ...

, was widely criticized for calling on Republicans from other states to participate in the Iowa caucuses.

focused most of his energy campaigning in the state, hoping to perform well and use that success as a springboard for the rest of his campaign.

Endorsements

Polling

; Aggregate polls

Results

2024 Iowa Republican presidential caucuses vote share and plurality

Just minutes after the caucus events started at 7 pm local time, Trump was projected to win the most votes by the Associated Press. Trump received 20 delegates, DeSantis nine, Haley eight, and Ramaswamy three. Barring any shifts in votes after the conclusion of the Iowa Republican Party's ongoing recanvass of the caucus results, Trump won all of Iowa's counties except for Johnson County, which he lost to Haley by one vote. DeSantis and Haley finished second and third place respectively. Ramaswamy, who placed fourth, announced the suspension of his campaign the night of the caucus, endorsing Trump, but will retain his three expected delegates. Hutchinson announced the suspension of his campaign the day after the caucus. DeSantis, despite finishing in second place, announced the suspension of his campaign six days after the caucus. The DeSantis campaign was highly critical of "media outlets" calling the results before the caucuses had closed. According to

, as well as

The Hill ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in ...

the turnout was reduced compared to the previous caucuses in 2020, due to the colder than normal weather.

Notes

;Partisan clients

References

{{2024 Republican primaries Republican presidential caucuses

Iowa Iowa () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wiscon ...

Iowa Republican presidential caucuses Iowa Republican caucuses