Iowa Republicans are keeping it ‘Iowa nice’ while prepping for the national GOP convention.
by Rebecca Morin | [email protected]
Lawn signs will be found on front yards, palm cards will be passed out, and endorsements will be made as the election cycle continues. Another type of candidate has been added to the list, however, separate from those running for presidential, state, and local office.
GOP delegates.
Faithful Iowa Republicans will be vying to be one of 30 delegates that will represent the state at the national GOP Convention that will be held in Cleveland, Ohio, on July 18-21
“It’s a competitive thing,” said Ryan Frederick, a member of the state central committee for the 3rd District. “You’ll be asked who did you vote for on caucus night, and if you told one person ‘I voted for so and so,’ and then told another person ‘I voted for such and such,’ that doesn’t go over very well.”
In some states, however, delegates being elected have an agenda to vote for another candidate rather than GOP frontrunner Donald Trump, if it comes down to a second vote.
There are Republican voters running to be national delegate in South Carolina who believe if there is a second vote at the convention, Trump will not win, according to a March 26 article by Politico. Top leaders who will be attending the convention that determine delegates have been critical of Trump. The business mogul won all of South Carolina’s 50 delegates.
The same can’t be said about Iowa, though.
After a handful of interviews with Iowa Republicans, many said the delegates elected to go the national convention will not focus on trying to take down Trump but instead try to represent Iowa’s caucus votes.
“I really do not believe [the Iowa Republican Party] will try to alter anything and pressure any delegate to do anything,” Justin Arnold, who was Florida Sen. Marco Rubio’s Iowa political director and Minnesota state director told The Daily Iowan. “In some other states, I can see how that scenario plays out, in Iowa that’s very rude.”
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz won Iowa, taking 8 of the 30 delegates. Trump came in second, followed by Rubio, with each receiving seven delegates. Ben Carson got three delegates, while Carly Fiorina, Jeb Bush, Rand Paul, John Kasich, and Mike Huckabee each got one.
At the national convention, Iowa’s delegates are required to represent the results of caucus night at the national convention on the first vote if there is a contested convention. If there is only one candidate that meets the requirement, all of Iowa’s 30 GOP delegates will vote for that candidate.
But like many other states, such as the case with South Carolina, Iowa’s delegates are released upon a second vote and do not have to represent caucus results.
“You see this is in the narrative, that if Trump can’t win on the first ballot, he’s not going to,” Frederick said, adding he is sure other GOP candidates are keeping their ears on the ground for the delegate votes but still mainly focusing on the next primary contest. “It’s hard to say. If you’re John Kasich or if you’re Ted Cruz, your main focus should be on the number 1,237; all this doesn’t matter if Trump gets the 1,237.”
To win the Republican nomination, a candidate has to get 1,237 of the delegates. Currently, Trump is leading with 739 delegates.
Despite some Republicans saying they do not have an agenda, some Iowa GOP leaders are trying to advise Iowa voters on who the best candidate would be.
Arnold, who is an Ankeny resident, wrote in an editorial published in the Des Moines Register he believes not casting a vote for Trump would be within the rules if there is a second vote, and instead voting for the actual Iowa caucus winner — Cruz — would be “supremely justified.”
Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, told the DI that he has told his constituents “Ted Cruz reflects our values very, very closely.”
“One of the most important things I, and anybody could be doing, is ensuring the right person gets into the White House,” he said.
The Cruz campaign has been “most on the ball and engaged on the effort,” though the Trump campaign has still tried to engaged with voters, Arnold told the DI. The Cruz and Trump campaigns were unable to be reached by the time of publication.
“He has a very low ceiling with the delegates, just because he has been such an alienating presence,” Arnold said about Trump. “He’s turned a lot of people off, besides that, he’s also behind on the hustling and organizing [to get delegates].”
Though most Iowans are prepping for a contested convention (some saying there is at least a 60/40 chance), there are some Iowa GOP leaders who would not like to see that happen.
Rep. Rod Blum, R-Iowa, told the DI he wants the “people to decide” who will be the party’s nominee, and not GOP leaders.
“I trust the people. I trust our capitalistic system, within reason,” Blum said. “I’m not one of those people who says we can’t have Donald Trump; we can’t have Ted Cruz. No, no, let the people decide that.”
But Arnold believes if it comes down to a second vote, Iowans, and others across the county, will decide against Trump.
“It’s interesting to think about, in light of all the new controversy…I often wonder how many of the people here in Iowa and the subsequent states want to take that vote back,” he said. “The really kind of poetic thing is that they might get that chance.”