Local Democratic leaders want to remind people of Iowa Caucus changes

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – It is 2-weeks away from the Iowa Caucus, and local Democratic leaders want to remind people it’s going to look different this year.

This comes after the DNC announced last year that Iowa will no longer be first in the nation.

“When you think about the Iowa Caucus you think of chaos, especially with how the Democrats run the caucus,” said Linn County Democratic Chairman Bret Nilles.

Nilles said their traditional Caucus had groups of people picking their favorite candidate and persuading those who back candidates with lesser support, those who aren’t viable, to choose someone else. However, that was now a thing of the past.

“From the standpoint of the ‘Presidential Preference cards, they create a little bit of a twist,” he said.

Democratic Caucus-goers can request a ‘residential Preference’ card until February 19th. The card will ask people to rank the four presidential candidates in order of who they want to represent the party and follow the instructions on where to send the card. The in-person meeting will now focus on party business.

“It’s going to be strictly on electing our Central Committee members, electing people to the County Convention who could potentially go on to the National Convention, and then work on the party platform,” said Nilles.

While the Caucuses Nilles has known since he was a teenager in 1976 was going to look very different, he said it was important that Iowans get involved in the process.

“We’re going to try and get the party excited about the upcoming election, which is the most important part about the caucuses,” he said.

The results of the democratic caucus won’t be released until March 5th, Super Tuesday.

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