Biden wins Iowa Democratic caucus with over 90% of vote

DES MOINES, Iowa (Gray TV State Capitol Bureau) - While much of the nation focuses on Super Tuesday results to see if former president Donald Trump can essentially end former United Ambassador Nikki Haley’s long-shot bid to defeat him for the Republican nomination, Iowans will also see how Democrats weighed in on the presidential race in a new version of the caucus.

The party said that about 20,000 people requested presidential preference cards to make their choice. Traditionally, activists did that in person on caucus night.

But following a series of problems in 2020′s caucuses that delayed results, the Democratic National Committee stripped Iowa Democrats of the right to hold the first-in-the-nation contest as they had since 1972.

Democratic state leaders came up with a hybrid version for 2024 where activists still met in person in smaller gatherings on caucus night on January 15th to conduct party functions like discussing platforms and issues. But they had to request the preference card, fill it out and send it back to the party and postmarked by March 5th.

Iowa Democratic Party Chair Rita Hart told Gray TV that the changes could appease critics who said that requiring people to show up on a caucus night at a designated date and time prevents some people from taking part.

“We got a lot of criticism for it not being very inclusive. This in-person caucus system where we have the in-person and the mail in....as a result, we’ve gotten so much more accessibility so much more inclusivity,” she said.

“No matter what their personal circumstances are...whether they work third shift...whether they have small children with a disability...or snowbirds,” Hart said, “These are people who have the option now to be able to participate in the process.”

Hart said that the party will look at how this new process worked and see whether this hybrid version would be a good fit for 2028 and if additional changes need to be made.

The unofficial results show that President Joe Biden won the 2024 Iowa Democratic Caucuses, receiving 11,083 of 12,207 preference votes.

Dean B. Phillips took in 362 preference votes while Marianne D. Williamson took 268 votes.

480 voters remained uncommitted.

“Congratulations to Joe Biden, who overwhelmingly won the 2024 Iowa Democratic Presidential Caucus. Iowans recognize that President Biden has made great investments in communities across Iowa including in our childcare centers, roads and bridges, and by expanding broadband access in our most rural areas,” said IDP Chair Rita Hart. “IDP’s staff has worked hard over this past year to make sure that this year’s Presidential Caucus was as accessible as possible. Not only have we reached the turnout numbers that we experienced in 2012 — we’ve exceeded them. That’s clear evidence that Iowans are energized and ready to re-elect President Biden.”

Iowa GOP Chairman Jeff Kaufmann also released a statement following the Iowa Democratic Party’s announcement:

“The Iowa Democrat Party continues to kowtow to Joe Biden and liberal party insiders, putting their interests ahead of Iowans’ best interests. “The Iowa GOP Caucus held in January, was a lively, grassroots-driven, transparent model of democracy. Preserving Iowa’s first-in-the-nation status ensures that literally anyone can be president. Now more than ever, it’s important that those who want to run our country are not just crowned by the establishment, but rather that the grassroots of each party decide who their nominee should be. “The Democrat enthusiasm for their new-fangled mail-in caucus was pathetic - almost as pathetic as their election losses in November will be.”