After an hour-long board meeting Friday morning, Republican Party of Iowa leaders unanimously voted to kill the Iowa Straw Poll.
Chairman Jeff Kaufmann cited three reasons the straw poll won’t take place in August this year.
“The vast majority of candidates this year decided they didn’t want to come and compete in the straw poll,” said Kaufmann. “That of course leads to the fact that if you don’t have candidates, then you won’t have ticket sales, and we won’t break even. And then the most important factor of all is our first in the nation status, and we just cannot risk that.”
Kaufmann said though he disagrees with the candidates’ decision to skip the long-standing traditional political event, he respects their choice.
“There comes a time when after you’ve invited and after you’ve made your case, and a candidate still doesn’t want to come to your event, it comes off as forcing them,” said Kaufmann. “When you begin to do that, all of the sudden you’re not acting like a first-in-the-nation state, and every four years we have to make the case for that.”
Kaufmann said that if the Straw Poll was still held without a lot of candidates’ support, the negative perspective of GOP leaders would begin to affect Iowa’s first-in-the-nation status. Kaufmann said he doesn’t think there will be a replacement for the Straw Poll this year.
“Will it come back again? I don’t know,” said Kaufmann. “Today’s vote was specifically for 2015’s event, not for anything in the future.”
Kaufmann also said that several other major events in the past few months may have had a hand in the legitimacy of holding the Straw Poll in August.
“It makes it easier to not attend the event because Iowans will eventually see you,” said Kaufmann. “But that’s a good thing that there are so many other events. We already have 40 more visits than the number two spot. Our people get to see them more.”
