Iowa House passes caucus bill, allows flexibility for remote participation

DES MOINES — Pulling back from a proposed ban on remote caucus participation, Iowa House Republicans passed a bill Monday they say will keep Iowa’s caucuses first in the nation without upending Democrats’ plans to conduct their 2024 caucuses by mail.

The bill, which was amended on the floor before passing along party lines, would require that caucus participation be in person only if the purpose of the caucus is to select delegates as part of the presidential nominating process — leaving open the possibility of doing the presidential preference process on a different date.

House File 716, as amended, also would not require — as did the original bill — that caucus participants register with a party at least 70 days in advance of the caucuses. Instead, parties could determine their own participation rules for their caucuses.

“It's my attempt to listen to the criticisms and put forward a piece of legislation that truly preserves the caucuses, while also guaranteeing that first-in-the-nation doesn't get taken away from us,” said Rep. Bobby Kaufmann, a Republican from Wilton and the bill’s author.

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Kaufmann proposed the bill last month, saying it was necessary to prevent New Hampshire from jumping Iowa in the presidential nominating process. New Hampshire law requires that it hold the nation’s first primary and the secretary of state can set the date to accomplish that. He also proposed the amendment approved Monday.

If the Iowa Democratic Party’s caucus process looked too much like a primary, Republicans warned, New Hampshire would schedule its government-run primary before Iowa’s party caucuses. New Hampshire Secretary of State David Scanlan later confirmed those fears, saying he would move the state’s primary before Iowa’s caucus if it uses a mail-in process as Democrats had planned.

Originally, the bill would have required someone to be physically present at a presidential precinct caucus to vote in that caucus.

Iowa’s precinct caucuses are party organizing events where members select delegates to county conventions, work on a party platform, and in presidential election years, tally support for the party’s presidential candidates and assign delegates for that process.

In June, Iowa Democrats announced plans to hold the presidential preference process by mail and announce the results on caucus night in a bid to retain their first-in-the-nation status. The national party’s rules committee ultimately knocked Iowa out of the early status, but the state party kept plans to conduct the caucus by mail.

Last month, Iowa Democratic Party Chair Rita Hart requested an extension to submit the party’s delegate selection plan to the national party in reaction to the bill. In a statement Monday, Hart said the party will move forward with an inclusive caucus plan.

"Iowa Democrats will do what’s best for Iowa and that means moving forward with the most inclusive caucus process in Iowa history,” she said.

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State law requires each political party to hold a caucus before any other presidential nominating contest, but it does not require that they assign delegates to specific candidates on the same night.

Iowa House Minority Leader Jennifer Konfrst, a member of the state Democratic Party’s steering committee, said the bill would allow Iowa Democrats to “decouple” the candidate selection from presidential preference.

“I don't think this bill does anything to preclude the Iowa Democratic Party from continuing with our plan to make the caucuses more inclusive, early, and a great representation of who the country should have as our nominee,” she said.

Konfrst said the change was an improvement on the original bill, but the bill was an unnecessary, politically motivated interference in party business. She thought the bill was a way to tip the scales for former President Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign.

“It’s hard to imagine that it’s not something like greasing the skids for Donald Trump, and that’s frustrating and it’s not the role of the Legislature,” she said.

Kaufmann is a paid adviser to Trump’s campaign, but he has denied the bill would aid Trump. Kaufmann said the amended bill was an attempt to address the concerns of stakeholders, including the Iowa Democratic Party.

“This was my best way to address those concerns while still accomplishing the goal I want to accomplish,” he said.

The bill would also allow state parties to choose a winner in a primary race for the state Legislature in the event of a tie. Under current law, election officials draw a name out of a hat to determine the winner in a tied state House or Senate primary.

The bill now needs to pass in the Senate before being eligible to be signed into law. Kaufmann said he expects the Senate to take up the bill. A spokesperson for Senate Majority Leader Jack Whitver did not respond to a request for comment.