Editing Iowa caucuses (section)

==Background==
Political parties in Iowa have used caucuses to select party leaders and candidates for office since the 1800s.<ref name="Winebrenner">{{Cite journal |last=Winebrenner |first=Hugh |date=January 23, 2015 |title=The Evolution of the Iowa Precinct Caucuses |journal=The Annals of Iowa |volume=46 |issue=8 |pages=618–635 |doi=10.17077/0003-4827.8941|doi-access=free }}</ref> Before 1907, parties selected all candidates for political office through the caucus system.<ref name="Winebrenner" /> Iowa held a presidential primary in 1916, but returned to the caucus system in 1917 due to high costs and low participation.<ref name="Winebrenner" />

After the [[1968 Democratic National Convention protest activity]], Democratic Party leaders decided to make changes to their presidential nomination process by spreading out the schedule in each state. Because Iowa had a complex process of precinct caucuses, county conventions, district conventions, and a state convention, they chose to start early. In 1972, Iowa was the first state to hold its Democratic caucus, and it had the first Republican caucus four years later.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.npr.org/2016/05/29/464804185/why-does-iowa-vote-first-anyway |title=Why Does Iowa Vote First, Anyway? |last=Sanders |first=Sam |date=January 30, 2016 |access-date=February 2, 2016|publisher=[[NPR]] |archive-date=January 16, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240116111305/https://www.npr.org/2016/01/29/464804185/why-does-iowa-vote-first-anyway |url-status=live }}</ref>

Under Iowa law, political parties are required to hold caucuses every two years to select delegates to county conventions and party committees.<ref name="worldcat">{{Cite book |title=Why Iowa? : how caucuses and sequential elections improve the presidential nominating process |last1=Redlawsk |first1=David |date=2011 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |last2=Tolbert |first2=Caroline J. |last3=Donovan |first3=Todd |author-link2=Caroline Tolbert|isbn=9780226706955|location=Chicago |page=48 |oclc=606053997}}</ref>

For Republicans, the Iowa caucus used to follow the [[Iowa Straw Poll (1979-2011)|Iowa Straw Poll]] in August of the preceding year. The Iowa Straw Poll was held six times, beginning in 1979, but only three Straw Poll winners went on to win the caucus the following year. The Straw Poll was discontinued in June 2015.

With an emphasis on [[retail politics]], candidates have often pursued the "full [[Chuck Grassley|Grassley]]" or Iowa 99, as they visit all of the counties of the state.