1996 Iowa Republican presidential caucuses

February 1996 procedure

Unlike the Democratic caucus, the Republican Party does not use voting rounds or have minimum requirements for a percent of votes. The Republican version is done with a straw vote of those attending the caucus. This vote is sometimes done by a show of hands or by dividing themselves into groups according to candidate. However, officially it is done with voters receiving a blank piece of paper with no names on it, and the voter writing a name and placing it in a ballot box.

Following the straw poll, delegates are then elected from the remaining participants in the room, as most voters leave once their vote is cast. All delegates are officially considered unbound, but media outlets either apportion delegates proportionally or apportion them in terms of winner-take-all by counties. In precincts that elect only one delegate, the delegate is chosen by majority vote and the vote must be by paper ballot. The state party strongly urges that delegates reflect the results of the preference poll, but there is no obligation that they do so.

Ames Straw Poll

Main article: Ames Straw Poll

The 1996 Ames Straw Poll was held at Iowa State University (Ames)'s Hilton Coliseum on August 19, 1995. This was primarily a fundraising event for the state's Republican Party, and only Iowa residents who paid the $25 price for a ticket were eligible to vote. Tickets were available through the various presidential campaigns and the Iowa Republican Party's headquarters.

In general, the candidates bought large blocks of tickets and gave them out for free to whoever agreed to go and vote for that candidate. The candidates also rented buses to transport voters to Ames.

Bob Dole and Phil Gramm tied for the win with 24% of the vote each, followed by Pat Buchanan (18%), Lamar Alexander (11%), and Alan Keyes (8%). Five other candidates shared the remaining 15% of the vote.

Campaign

Buchanan made opposition to concentrated animal feeding operations and intensive pig farming a central theme of his campaign in Iowa, citing opposition by Iowa family farmers.

Results of the February 1996 caucuses

Because Iowa's delegates are not officially bound to candidates, the delegates given to each candidate below are rough estimates.

Three candidates won majorities or pluralities in the individual counties: Bob Dole, Pat Buchanan, and Lamar Alexander. Buchanan used the momentum from his better-than-expected second-place showing in the Iowa caucuses to vault to a narrow win in the New Hampshire primary eight days later.

References

References

1. [http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/stories/1999/08/14/iowa.saturday.02/ Bush wins Iowa GOP straw poll] August 19, 1995
2. (2 February 1996). "Iowa Turns Pigs Into a Political Football". Los Angeles Times.
3. (19 April 2021). "The Hog Barons". Vox.
4. "1996 Presidential Republican Primary Election Results - Iowa".