The Iowa Republican Party will re-evaluate the state’s presidential Straw Poll this Friday, a conversation that could signal the end of the decades-old tradition as more and more Republicans are opting out.
During a Friday morning conference call, members of the party’s governing board will discuss whether to continue conducting the poll, according to the Des Moines Register.
At least four Republican presidential contenders – Jeb Bush, Mike Huckabee, Marco Rubio and Rick Santorum – have said they won’t spend money to compete in the event, which traditionally occurs at the end of the summer and is meant to raise money for the state party and begin to winnow down the presidential field.
But fewer contenders actively campaigning for support would skew the outcome of the non-binding poll, underscoring perennial criticism that it does a poor job of reflecting the actual presidential preferences of the party and historically boosts fringe candidates with no real shot at the nomination.
In 2011, then-Rep. Michele Bachmann won the Iowa Straw Poll but went on to place sixth in the caucuses and soon after that dropped out of the race.
That’s a concern that’s dogged the Iowa caucuses for years as well, and the Des Moines Register reports that some Iowa GOP activists are concerned that the straw poll could provide further ammunition for caucus critics, some of whom have called for rescinding Iowa’s first-in-the-nation status in the presidential nominating contest.
Hinting at the possible outcome for the straw poll, Iowa GOP Chairman Jeff Kaufmann downplayed its significance in an interview with the Iowa paper last week.
“The straw poll is the least important of all the mechanisms that Iowa has in picking a candidate. … We start talking about the caucuses, then we’re talking about the meat and potatoes,” he said.
The event is scheduled for Aug. 8 in Boone, Iowa.