The Iowa caucuses, the first voting event in the Republican presidential primary, will be held on Monday amid blizzards and dangerous wind chills. Thousands of Republican registered voters are expected to gather at their designated local precincts, which include schools, churches and community centres, to debate their options before casting secret ballots. Over 1,600 such meetings are expected to happen on Monday, one for each precinct.
How does a GOP caucus work?
Republican voters will gather at their designated local precincts across the state on Monday evening. There, a caucus chair and secretary will be elected to run the meeting and surrogates of the candidates will give public speeches before caucusgoers cast their secret votes on paper ballots. This is unlike the Democratic caucuses where they meet on caucus day and conduct political business, but their choice for president can be done via e-mail. The results in this case will only be announced later.
Significance of Iowa caucus
Since Iowa only represents a small portion of delegates nationally, winning the state delegate-wise doesn't make much of a difference in a candidate's prospects. However, a win in Iowa will help a candidate project a narrative of momentum for the remaining battle.
Going by history, not all Republicans who won Iowa managed to get the nomination. In 2016, Texas senator Ted Cruz, who won in Iowa, lost the nomination to Trump. In 2012, Rick Santorum won Iowa but lost the nomination to Mitt Romney.
Trump leads
Former President Donald Trump is hoping that a win in Iowa will set him on the road to a third straight GOP nomination. While former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley wants this to boost her prospects ahead of next week's New Hampshire primary, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis wants this to keep his campaign alive.
Trump is projecting confidence and has urged voters to go out and vote even if they are "sick as a dog." He also urged the voters to punish the enemies whom he called "cheaters" and "liars".
Others, GOP candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, has visited all 99 counties in Iowa twice, which is a "double Grassley" while DeSantis has been on the road to completing a "full Grassley" which is visiting each of the 99 counties once. Trump has spent significantly less time in the state, often holding events via surrogate speeches.