Editing Iowa caucuses (section)

=== 2004 ===
{{main|2004 United States presidential election in Iowa|2004 Iowa Democratic caucuses}}
Since Republican President [[George W. Bush]] did not face any opposition in 2004, only Democratic caucuses were held. The meetings ran from 6:30&nbsp;p.m. until approximately 7:00&nbsp;p.m. on January 19, 2004, with a turnout of about 124,000 caucus-goers.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/11/28/opinion/pollpositions/main3548914.shtml?source=RSSattr=Politics_3548914 |title=Iowa Caucuses a Challenge For Pollsters, Poll Positions: Low Turnout, Chance To Vote for Second Choice Make Contest Difficult To Forecast |date=November 28, 2007 |access-date=October 27, 2008 |publisher=[[CBS News]] |archive-date=May 13, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130513064711/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/11/28/opinion/pollpositions/main3548914.shtml?source=RSSattr=Politics_3548914 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The county convention occurred on March 13, the district convention on April 24, and the state convention on June 26. Delegates could and did change their votes based on further developments in the race; for instance, in 2004 the delegates pledged to Dick Gephardt, who left the race after the precinct caucuses, chose a different candidate to support at the county, district, and state level.

The number of delegates each candidate receives eventually determines how many state delegates from Iowa that candidate will have at the [[Democratic National Convention]]. Iowa sends 56 delegates to the DNC out of a total of 4,366.

Of the 45 delegates that were chosen through the caucus system, 29 were chosen at the district level. Ten delegates were at-large delegates, and six were "party leader and elected official" (PLEO) delegates; these were assigned at the state convention. There were also 11 other delegates, eight of whom were appointed from local Democratic National Committee members; two were PLEO delegates and one was elected at the state Democratic convention. [[John Kerry]] won the Iowa caucuses with 38% of the vote, [[John Edwards]] coming second.