Iowa Republican Party Cancels Famed Iowa Straw Poll

This year’s contenders showed more reluctance than previous years to participate

By BYRON TAU
June 12, 2015 11:46 a.m. ET1 COMMENTS

The Iowa Republican Party’s governing body canceled one of the state’s longtime political traditions, voting unanimously on Friday to drop the troubled Iowa Straw Poll.

The straw poll has been an quadrennial political ritual since 1979 — bringing Republican presidential hopefuls to Ames, Iowa, to mingle with GOP voters and activists in the Hawkeye State.

The straw poll was once seen as a major test of support for candidates running for the White House in advance of the Iowa caucuses, the first presidential nominating contest in the primary process.

But the party’s State Central Committee voted this year to cancel this year’s event, scheduled for Aug. 8, due to declining interest among the large field of GOP candidates and a persistent belief among party leaders that the straw poll had outlived its usefulness as a measure of support for potential presidential candidates.

“I’ve said since December that we would only hold a straw poll if the candidates wanted one, and this year that is just not the case,” said state party chairman Jeff Kaufmann in a statement.

“Many candidates are still concerned about participating in an event that carries significant media-driven expectations well ahead of our first in the nation caucuses,” Mr. Kaufmann said.

A spokesman for the state party said the decision applied only to the 2015 straw poll and that it could be revived in future election cycles.

This year’s crop of presidential contenders had shown more reluctance than in previous years to participate in the straw poll.

At the state party’s Lincoln Day dinner last month, Mr. Kaufmann and Sen. Charles Grassley urged the 2016 presidential hopefuls to attend the planned event.

But only Ben Carson made a public commitment to be there. Jeb Bush, Mike Huckabee, Marco Rubio and Rick Santorum all said they wouldn’t spend money to compete in the event. Several other presidential campaigns were waiting to see if Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker would attend, but his aides skipped a recent straw poll planning meeting. Mr. Walker’s campaign said it wouldn’t make a decision on the straw poll until he announces his candidacy in mid-July. That timeline would have been too late for the state party.

The poll also has come under criticism for elevating candidates that ultimately fell flat. Though George H.W. Bush, Bob Dole and George W. Bush all won the straw poll en route to the eventual Republican nomination, straw poll winners in recent cycles have rarely gone on to either the nomination or a caucus victory.

In 2007, Mitt Romney won the straw poll but placed a disappointing second in Iowa before withdrawing from the presidential race after the Super Tuesday primaries. In 2011, Michele Bachmann won the straw poll before her support in the state cratered and she placed last in the caucuses months later.

That year, the straw poll also chased former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty out of the primary process, after he placed a disappointing third. His early exit from the primary process came to be seen as a mistake, as the eventual Republican nominee Mr. Romney’s support would remain weak in early 2012 nominating contests for months.

“I think the straw poll has outlived its usefulness,” Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad said about the straw poll in 2012. “It has been a great fundraiser for the party, but I think its days are over.”

http://www.wsj.com/articles/iowa-rep...oll-1434124018