2024 Presidential Campaign Blog

Iowa Democratic Party Chair Rita Hart Congratulates Vice President Nominee Tim Walz

IDP CHAIR RITA HART CONGRATULATES VICE PRESIDENT NOMINEE TIM WALZ

Des Moines, IA — Today, Iowa Democratic Party Rita Hart released the following statement after Kamala Harris announced Tim Walz will be her running mate in 2024:

“Minnesota Governor Tim Walz is a great candidate for Vice President because he understands Midwest principles, how hard Iowans work, and the value of a dollar. He is a veteran who will make sure our troops are taken care of and have access to the benefits they deserve. Walz is a former teacher who knows our young people are our greatest investment, and how important it is to make sure there are opportunities for folks of all ages to thrive no matter where they live.

Iowans have been fired up to elect Kamala Harris since the day she announced her intention to run for President, and it shows with the surge of support we’ve seen through donations and through the number of people who are stepping up to volunteer for the Iowa Democratic Party.

I have every confidence this will be the winning ticket in November.”

Iowa Democratic Party Chair Thanks President Joe Biden for His Service

Iowa Democratic Party Chair Thanks President Joe Biden for His Service

Des Moines, IA — Iowa Democratic Party Chair Rita Hart issued the following statement regarding President Joe Biden ending his Presidential campaign:

“Joe Biden has served our country and Iowans well by lowering the cost of prescription drugs like insulin and passing the largest infrastructure package this country has ever seen.

While I am personally sad that President Biden has decided he is unable to continue the work he has started by running for a second term, I recognize that this action means Joe is telling us that it’s up to us to finish the job.

When President Biden and Vice President Harris took office, they faced terrible odds with the pandemic still raging and an economic crisis at hand. Since then, they have overcome and accomplished so much.

Today, more people are working than at any point in American history. Manufacturing jobs have been brought back to American shores in order to provide more jobs, lower the cost of goods, and ensure more technologies are being made right here in America. There are even more people who have health insurance than ever before with more than 16 million people enrolled through the Affordable Care Act.

I cannot thank President Biden enough for the sacrifices he’s made for our country during his decades-long career serving the people.”

Iowa Democratic Party Statement on First Presidential Debate

Tonight, President Biden Showed Iowans His Vision for the Future While Trump Attacked Working People’s Freedoms

Des Moines, IA — Iowa Democratic Party Chair Rita Hart released the following statement following tonight's presidential debate:

“Trump continues to pose a serious threat to families in Iowa and across the nation, as he puts himself above American voters and our democracy, wants to ban abortion nationwide, and threatens access to affordable health care and to gut Social Security and Medicare.

Tonight, Iowans saw the stark contrast between President Biden’s vision for the future – building on his agenda of lowering prices, creating good-paying jobs, and protecting our fundamental freedoms – and convicted felon Donald Trump’s plan to give more tax breaks to his billionaire donors at working families’ expense.
President Biden made it clear that he works for all Iowans and America’s working families, while Trump only cares about himself.”

The Iowa Democratic Party’s Liberty and Justice Celebration will be Hosted on July 27, 2024

Iowa Democratic Party Announces the Date of the Annual Liberty and Justice Celebration

The Iowa Democratic Party’s annual Liberty and Justice Celebration will be hosted on July 27, 2024.

DES MOINES — Mark your calendars, Iowa! The Iowa Democratic Party is excited to announce the date of the upcoming annual Liberty and Justice Celebration. This year’s Celebration will be held on July 27, 2024.

“The Liberty and Justice Celebration is IDP’s signature annual event. This year, the LJ will get us ready to have a terrific National Convention, help us organize our army of volunteers, and fund our Get Out the Vote efforts in November.  I’m so excited to see all of those who attend this year’s Celebration,” said IDP Chair Rita Hart.

Additional information regarding the time, location, and details of the Liberty and Justice Celebration will be provided in a later update. Individuals interested in attending the 2024 Liberty and Justice Celebration can obtain a ticket at this link.

https://secure.actblue.com/donate/lj2024?

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Gets Ballot Access in Iowa in One Day at State Convention

Kennedy Gets Ballot Access in Iowa in One Day at State Convention

DES MOINES, IA—APRIL 13, 2024—Independent Presidential Candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. today announced the campaign convened the necessary participants at a convention in Des Moines to achieve ballot access in Iowa.

On Saturday, April 13, nearly 1,000 people came to the Val Air Ballroom in West Des Moines, Iowa, in support of putting “Bobby on the Ballot.” Iowa offers a special way to achieve ballot access in one day by having 500 eligible voters in the state attend an assembly and sign a form attesting they were present at the event. The campaign today succeeded in getting more than 650 eligible Iowa voters to sign the assembly form.

“Thank you Iowa for showing up and getting me on the ballot in your state,” said Kennedy. “What an incredible day. I love your passion and commitment for reviving the American dream and restoring democracy to our great land.”

Kennedy gave a resounding speech highlighting his platform to restore the middle class, unravel corporate capture of our government agencies, unwind the war machine, end the chronic disease epidemic, reduce the national debt, make homes affordable again, and protect our constitutional rights.

The Kennedy campaign has launched a robust ballot access plan to ensure the Kennedy-Shanahan ticket is on the ballot in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Kennedy is already on the ballot in Utah and has collected all the necessary signatures to be on the ballot in New Hampshire, Nevada, Hawaii, North Carolina, Idaho, and Nebraska.

“We have the field teams, volunteers, legal teams, paid circulators, supporters, and strategists ready to get the job done,” said Stefanie Spear, Kennedy campaign press secretary. “We are exceeding all our benchmarks and will be announcing new states each week.”

Last month as millions watched on TV and social media, Kennedy welcomed attorney and tech entrepreneur Nicole Shanahan as his vice presidential running mate at a packed rally in Oakland, California.

Kennedy’s surging support across the country has made the election a three-way race. A recent Quinnipiac poll shows him leading Presidents Biden and Trump nationwide among voters under 35. An NBC poll shows 34% of people saying they could see themselves supporting RFK Jr.

Kennedy leads Presidents Biden and Trump in popularity and among independents. Independents continue to constitute the largest political bloc in the U.S., with an average of 43% of U.S. adults. In contrast, 27% of U.S. adults identify as Republicans and 27% as Democrats.

Joe Biden Wins the 2024 Iowa Democratic Presidential Caucus

President Joseph R. Biden Overwhelmingly Wins the 2024 Iowa Democratic Presidential Caucus

DES MOINES – President Joe Biden has won the 2024 Iowa Democratic Caucuses, receiving 11,083 of 12,207 preferences received and processed through today.

“Congratulations to Joe Biden, who overwhelmingly won the 2024 Iowa Democratic Presidential Caucus. Iowans recognize that President Biden has made great investments in communities across Iowa including in our childcare centers, roads and bridges, and by expanding broadband access in our most rural areas,” said IDP Chair Rita Hart. “IDP’s staff has worked hard over this past year to make sure that this year’s Presidential Caucus was as accessible as possible. Not only have we reached the turnout numbers that we experienced in 2012 — we’ve exceeded them. That’s clear evidence that Iowans are energized and ready to re-elect President Biden.”

Unofficial results of the 2024 Iowa Democratic Caucuses can be found here. To account for any post-marked cards that arrive after March 5, official results will be released on Friday, March 8 on our website. The Iowa Democratic Party State Central Committee will officially certify results at their March 16 meeting.

Iowa GOP Releases Caucus Results Site Data

Iowa GOP Releases Caucus Results Site Data

DES MOINES – A critical facet of the Republican Party of Iowa's stunning success holding the 2024 First-in-the-Nation Caucus, in which over 110,000 Iowans participated despite record-low temperatures and a major snowstorm blanketing the state just days before Caucus Night, was the party's reporting and tabulation technological apparatus.

RPI's results reporting app and website, designed and built by leading technology consultant Red Oak Strategic, was used to report the results of a record-high of almost 75 percent of Iowa's 1,657 precincts. The remainder of precincts reported their results to RPI via a phone line manned by Republican Party of Iowa staff.

"We're grateful to RPI and their leadership for not only trusting Red Oak Strategic with a nearly year-long build out using Amazon Web Services and their talented team, but working closely with their partners and volunteers to ensure this project was a success in HQ, and in every caucus site across Iowa," said Mark Stephenson, Red Oak Strategic CEO. "Our team at Red Oak was proud to play such an important part in the Iowa Caucus, and showing what a transparent, secure, and well-run election can look like on a national scale."

RPI's caucus results page, moreover, clocked nearly 1.3 million overall page views in just a few short hours, according to data compiled by Google Analytics. Although the overwhelming majority of these views came from within the United States, several hundred thousand were sourced to countries such as Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, India, Japan, and France -- cementing the global significance of Iowa's First-in-the-Nation Caucus and its half-century-old role in our country's presidential nominating process. Additionally, the app's backend data feeds powered requests from large media outlets such as the Associated Press, Decision Desk HQ, NBC, The New York Times, etc. -- allowing them to use the Iowa GOP data feed to power their results pages for millions of viewers.

"Working with our technology partners and thousands of committed grassroots volunteers, the Republican Party of Iowa has once again proven to the world that the Iowa Caucus process is fair, transparent, and secure," said Jeff Kaufmann, RPI Chairman. "We will always fight to preserve our First-in-the-Nation Caucus status and provide a critical voice for the Heartland in electing our country's presidents."

Iowa GOP Releases Official 2024 RNC Delegate Allocation

Iowa GOP Releases Official 2024 RNC Delegate Allocation

DES MOINES – Following its 2024 First-in-the-Nation Caucus, the Republican Party of Iowa is releasing the official allocation of the 40 Iowa delegates to the 2024 Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.

According to the Republican Party of Iowa's bylaws, Iowa's delegates to the Republican National Convention are proportionally allocated based on the results of the Iowa Caucus's presidential preference poll. In situations involving fractional results, proportional delegate allocation for each candidate is rounded to the nearest whole delegate.

Based on the final official results of the 2024 Iowa Caucus, delegate allocation is as follows:

In accordance with the Republican Party of Iowa's bylaws, delegates will remain bound on the first ballot to candidates even if they have dropped out of the presidential race. In the event that only one candidate's name is placed in nomination at the Republican National Convention, however, all of Iowa's delegates will be bound to support that candidate.

Asa Hutchinson Statement after the Iowa Caucus Suspending Presidential Campaign

My Statement after the Iowa Caucus

"I congratulate Donald J. Trump for his win last night in Iowa and to the other candidates who competed and garnered delegate support.

Today, I am suspending my campaign for President and driving back to Arkansas. My message of being a principled Republican with experience and telling the truth about the current front runner did not sell in Iowa.

I stand by the campaign I ran. I answered every question, sounded the warning to the GOP about the risks in 2024 and presented hope for our country's future.

Susan and I are blessed beyond measure, and we are grateful for the opportunity to have fought in the political arena for America."

Iowa GOP Statement on Media Outlets' Premature Caucus Call

Iowa GOP Statement on Media Outlets' Premature Caucus Call

In response to numerous media outlets -- including the AP, NBC, CBS, CNN, FOX, et al -- calling the results of the 2024 Iowa Caucus prematurely when just around 300 votes of the over 100,000 that were ultimately cast were reported, Republican Party of Iowa Chairman released the following statement:

"Media outlets calling the results of the 2024 First-in-the-Nation Caucus less than half an hour after precinct caucuses had been called to order – before the overwhelming majority of Iowans had even cast their ballot – was highly disappointing and concerning.

"One of the key differences between the Iowa Caucus and a standard primary election is that Iowans have the chance to listen to presidential candidates or their surrogates and deliberate to make an informed decision. 

"There was no need to rush one of the most transparent, grassroots democratic processes in the country."