Iowa’s Republican Party voted Friday to kill the Iowa Straw Poll, the traditional stop on the presidential campaign trail that was in jeopardy after a number of candidates said they would skip it this year.
“I’ve said since December that we would only hold a straw poll if the candidates wanted one, and this year that is just not the case,” state GOP chairman Jeff Kaufmann said after the Iowa central committee unanimously voted to cancel August’s gathering.
“This step, while extremely distasteful for those of us who love the straw poll, is necessary to strengthen our first in the nation status and ensure our future nominee has the best chance possible to take back the White House in 2016,” Kaufmann said.
In recent weeks, a number of Republican candidates said they would not participate in the contest that also serves as a Republican Party of Iowa fundraiser, including Jeb Bush, Mike Huckabee, Marco Rubio and Rick Santorum.
At the event, candidates deliver speeches before the activists vote.
While the event attracts significant media coverage, it requires a considerable amount of money to rent a tent at the event and to organize and transport supporters to the poll.
Winning the straw poll also doesn’t always translate into winning the caucuses. (Michele Bachmann won the straw poll in 2011). And doing poorly can doom a campaign. (Tim Pawlenty dropped out after an embarrassing finish that same year).
Even Huckabee — who parlayed a strong finish in the straw poll to win the state’s caucuses in 2008 — explained that he wasn’t willing to spend the money on it this year.
“After consulting with many of our Iowa volunteers and supporters, as well as key activists whose opinion we value, I have decided to forego taking part in the Iowa straw poll — or any other straw poll — and will instead focus our campaign’s attention and resources on the Iowa caucuses,” Huckabee wrote in a recent Des Moines Register op-ed explaining his decision.
Kaufmann said Friday: “Canceling the event is not a decision anyone on the State Central Committee took lightly, and I commend them for the thorough, thoughtful job they’ve done. Iowa is First in the Nation because of our strong grassroots tradition and because we believe in a process that gives equal chance to all candidates. We also believe in hosting a process that puts our candidates in the best position possible to win the White House in 2016.”