{{Infobox event , title = Iowa Straw Poll , image = 2011 Ames Straw Poll logo.png , image_size = , caption = 2011 logo , venue = Central Iowa Expo , place =

Ames Ames may refer to: Places United States * Ames, Arkansas, a place in Arkansas * Ames, Colorado * Ames, Illinois * Ames, Indiana * Ames, Iowa, the most populous city bearing this name * Ames, Kansas * Ames, Nebraska * Ames, New York * Ames, Ok ...

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

, USA , also known as = , type =

Straw poll A straw poll, straw vote, or straw ballot is an ad hoc or unofficial vote. It is used to show the popular opinion on a certain matter, and can be used to help politicians know the majority opinion and help them decide what to say in order to gain ...

, theme = , cause = Republican U.S. presidential candidate selection process , patrons = , organizers = Iowa Republican Party , participants = Republican Party , url = , website = , notes = {{ElectionsIA The Iowa Straw Poll (also known as the Ames Straw Poll) was a presidential

straw poll A straw poll, straw vote, or straw ballot is an ad hoc or unofficial vote. It is used to show the popular opinion on a certain matter, and can be used to help politicians know the majority opinion and help them decide what to say in order to gain ...

and fundraising event for the

Republican Party of Iowa The Republican Party of Iowa (RPI) is the affiliate of the Republican Party (United States), United States Republican Party in Iowa. The State Central Committee is chaired by Jeff Kaufmann. The RPI operates the Republican side of the Iowa cauc ...

. It was held six times, traditionally in late summer approximately six months in advance of contested presidential

Iowa caucuses The Iowa caucuses are biennial electoral events for members of the Democratic and Republican parties in the U.S. state of Iowa. Unlike primary elections in most other U.S. states, where registered voters go to polling places to cast ballots, ...

, from 1979 until 2011, on the campus of

Iowa State University Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the n ...

. The event attracted both praise and criticism, with supporters noting that it raised funds for the

and winnowed large fields of presidential candidates. Critics asserted that it catered to extremist candidates and put a financial squeeze on campaigns. The poll itself held a mixed record as a

bellwether A bellwether is a leader or an indicator of trends.bellwether
" ''Cambridge Dictionary''. Ret ...

for either the Iowa caucuses or the GOP nomination; on three occasions (

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; pr ...

in '79,

Bob Dole Robert Joseph Dole (July 22, 1923 – December 5, 2021) was an American politician and attorney who represented Kansas in the United States Senate from 1969 to 1996. He was the Republican Leader of the Senate during the final 11 years of his te ...

in '95, and

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

in '99) the winner of the straw poll also won the Iowa caucuses the next year, but only twice ('95 and '99) did these candidates win the GOP nomination. Only one winner of the straw poll, George W. Bush, won the presidency. On June 12, 2015, the Republican Party of Iowa announced that the straw poll will no longer be held.{{cite web, title=It's over: the end of the Iowa Straw Poll, url=http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/its-over-end-iowa-straw-poll-n374346, work=NBC News, date=June 12, 2015, access-date=June 12, 2015 A similar poll (also at times referred to as the ''Iowa Straw Poll'') has been conducted at the Iowa State Fair since 2015.

Format

The poll took place among attendees of a

fundraising Fundraising or fund-raising is the process of seeking and gathering voluntary financial contributions by engaging individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies. Although fundraising typically refers to efforts to gathe ...

dinner benefiting the Iowa Republican Party. Before the vote, each candidate was given an opportunity to make a short speech to the attendees. The poll has been described as a cross between a political convention and a county fair, where Iowa voters had a chance to mingle, eat barbecue and have a little fun. The party divided the venue into sections and auctioned each to the candidates, who could then set up booths to present their case to the voters. The larger areas and those closest to the entrance tended to fetch the highest price. In 2011 bidding started at $15,000 and ranged to as high as $31,000 (bid by Ron Paul).{{cite news , title=Ron Paul outbids rivals for prime real estate at Iowa straw poll , url=http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-iowa-straw-poll-20110623,0,6023685.story?track=rss , last=Abcarian , first=Robin , newspaper=

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

, date=June 24, 2011 , access-date=June 24, 2011 Non-Republicans were allowed to vote in the Iowa Straw Poll. However, for the later years of the poll, all voters were required to be at least 16 1/2 years of age, be a

legal resident Domicile is relevant to an individual's "personal law," which includes the law that governs a person's status and their property. It is independent of a person's nationality. Although a domicile may change from time to time, a person has only one ...

or a student attending an Iowa university or college, and purchase a

ticket Ticket or tickets may refer to: Slips of paper * Lottery ticket * Parking ticket, a ticket confirming that the parking fee was paid (and the time of the parking start) * Toll ticket, a slip of paper used to indicate where vehicles entered a tol ...

, although some campaigns paid the fee for their supporters. Voters had their hands

stamped Stamped may refer to: * Stamped (application), an iPhone app * Stamped (song), by The Verve *'' Stamped from the Beginning'', a book by Ibram X. Kendi See also *Stmpd Rcrds Stmpd Rcrds (stylised in all caps; pronounced "stamped records") is ...

or their

thumb The thumb is the first digit of the hand, next to the index finger. When a person is standing in the medical anatomical position (where the palm is facing to the front), the thumb is the outermost digit. The Medical Latin English noun for thumb ...

s dipped in

ink Ink is a gel, sol, or solution that contains at least one colorant, such as a dye or pigment, and is used to color a surface to produce an image, text, or design. Ink is used for drawing or writing with a pen, brush, reed pen, or quill. Thi ...

when entering the voting area so that they could not vote twice. Ballots were put into

electronic voting machines An electronic voting machine is a voting machine based on electronics. Two main technologies exist: '' optical scanning'' and '' direct recording'' (DRE). Optical scanning In an optical scan voting system, or marksense, each voter's choices ...

Significance

As a

, the Iowa Straw Poll's results were

non-binding A non-binding resolution is a written motion adopted by a deliberative body that can or cannot progress into a law. The substance of the resolution can be anything that can normally be proposed as a motion. This type of resolution is often used ...

and had no official effect on the

presidential primaries The presidential primary elections and caucuses held in the various states, the District of Columbia, and territories of the United States form part of the nominating process of candidates for United States presidential elections. The United S ...

. However, the straw poll was frequently seen as a first test of

organization An organization or organisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is an entity—such as a company, an institution, or an association—comprising one or more people and having a particular purpose. The word is derived from ...

al strength in Iowa by the

news media The news media or news industry are forms of mass media that focus on delivering news to the general public or a target public. These include news agencies, print media (newspapers, news magazines), broadcast news (radio and television), and th ...

and party insiders. As such, it could be beneficial for the winning candidate on the national level because it built momentum for their campaign, enhanced their aura of inevitability, or showed off a superior field operation.{{cite news , title=Bush wins Iowa GOP straw poll , url=http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/stories/1999/08/14/iowa.saturday.02/ , author1=Yagielski, Janine , author2=Kathleen Hayden , publisher=CNN , date=August 15, 1999 , access-date=July 23, 2007, archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070702075339/http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/stories/1999/08/14/iowa.saturday.02/, archive-date= July 2, 2007 , url-status= live Nevertheless, in the six times the poll was held, the winner of the Iowa Straw Poll went on to win the

only three times for that same election cycle. The winner of the straw poll won the Republican presidential nomination twice for that same election cycle. Two additional winners of the straw poll (

and

Mitt Romney Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American politician, businessman, and lawyer serving as the junior United States senator from Utah since January 2019, succeeding Orrin Hatch. He served as the 70th governor of Massachusetts f ...

) won the Republican nomination, but not in the same election cycle that they won the straw poll. Usually the winner or the second-place finisher in the straw poll went on to win the

, although in 2011,

Rick Santorum Richard John Santorum ( ; born May 10, 1958) is an American politician, attorney, and political commentator. A member of the Republican Party, he served as a United States Senator from Pennsylvania from 1995 to 2007 and was the Senate's thir ...

placed fourth in the straw poll before winning the

caucuses A caucus is a meeting of supporters or members of a specific political party or movement. The exact definition varies between different countries and political cultures. The term originated in the United States, where it can refer to a meeting ...

the following January. On a more local level, the Iowa Straw Poll gave a major boost to the local

economy An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with the ...

.{{cite web , title=Behind the Straw Poll , url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/election/july-dec99/straw_poll_background.html , work=Online NewsHour , publisher=

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

, date=August 13, 1999 , access-date=July 23, 2007 Thousands of people, including

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

s, campaign staffers, and

voter Voting is a method by which a group, such as a meeting or an electorate, can engage for the purpose of making a collective decision or expressing an opinion usually following discussions, debates or election campaigns. Democracies elect holde ...

s, arrived in town each election cycle around the time of the poll. The Iowa Straw Poll was one of the Iowa Republican Party's most lucrative fundraising events. In fall 2020, one Republican pundit compared the upcoming Georgia and Senate runoffs to this event: "It'll be like Iowa during the straw poll era. A modern-day Ames in the Peach State."

Criticisms

In its early years, the Iowa Straw Poll was criticized for having many voters who were not residents of

. Candidates would

bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...

in supporters from other states. However, beginning with the 1999 Iowa Straw Poll, all voters were required to show proof of legal residence in Iowa. Before the 1999 Iowa Straw Poll, cheating was perceived to be widespread:{{Citation needed, reason=Article referenced does not state this as fact, date=June 2011 many individuals managed to vote repeatedly by visiting the

bathroom A bathroom or washroom is a room, typically in a home or other residential building, that contains either a bathtub or a shower (or both). The inclusion of a wash basin is common. In some parts of the world e.g. India, a toilet is typically i ...

and washing off the

stamp Stamp or Stamps or Stamping may refer to: Official documents and related impressions * Postage stamp, used to indicate prepayment of fees for public mail * Ration stamp, indicating the right to rationed goods * Revenue stamp, used on documents to ...

on the back of their hand which indicated they had voted. Beginning with the 1999 Iowa Straw Poll, the

used for hand-stamping was changed to one that resisted being washed off. {{cite web , title=The Ames Straw Poll , url=http://race42008.com/2007/04/26/the-ames-straw-poll/ , author=MattC , date=April 26, 2007 , access-date=July 23, 2007 In 2007, instead of hand-stamping,

s were dipped in indelible ink. {{cite news , title=Romney Wins Iowa Straw Poll As Expected , url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/11/AR2007081100763.html , last=Glover , first=Mike , newspaper=

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

, date=August 11, 2007 , access-date= August 11, 2007 In 2007, the Iowa Straw Poll was criticized for having only 14,302 voters participating, compared to about 23,000 voters eight years earlier in the 1999 polls, and for failing to have three of the four leading candidates participate in the poll,

Rudolph Giuliani Rudolph William Louis Giuliani (, ; born May 28, 1944) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 107th Mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001. He previously served as the United States Associate Attorney General from 1981 to 198 ...

John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American politician and United States Navy officer who served as a United States senator from Arizona from 1987 until his death in 2018. He previously served two terms ...

and

Fred Thompson Freddie Dalton Thompson (August 19, 1942 – November 1, 2015) was an American politician, attorney, lobbyist, columnist, actor, and radio personality. A member of the Republican Party, he served as a United States Senator from Tennessee f ...

. Consequently, the votes received by

and second-place finisher

Mike Huckabee Michael Dale Huckabee (born August 24, 1955) is an American politician, Baptist minister, and political commentator who served as the 44th governor of Arkansas from 1996 to 2007. He was a candidate for the Republican Party presidential nomina ...

failed to demonstrate the consequence of full competition among all candidates.{{cite news , first=Dan , last=Balz , title=Enough Already With the Straw Poll , date=August 13, 2007 , url =http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2007/08/13/straw_poll_weeds_the_field_but.html?hpid=topnews , newspaper =Washington Post , access-date = September 9, 2007 The poll was criticized for heavily favoring better-funded candidates, as better-funded candidates were able to afford

transportation Transport (in British English), or transportation (in American English), is the intentional movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land (rail and road), water, cable, pipeline, ...

costs to

in more supporters and to

reimburse Reimbursement is the act of compensating someone for an out-of-pocket expense by giving them an amount of money equal to what was spent. Companies, governments and nonprofit organizations may compensate their employees or officers for necessary ...

those supporters for meal

s. In 2012, Iowa Governor

Terry Branstad Terry Edward Branstad (born November 17, 1946) is an American politician and former diplomat. A member of the Republican Party, he served three terms in the Iowa House of Representatives from 1973 to 1979 before serving as governor of Iowa fro ...

said "I think the straw poll has outlived its usefulness" and "It has been a great fundraiser for the party but I think its days are over." The party eventually decided to cancel the 2015 contest and all future contests on June 12, 2015; several high-profile candidates had indicated they would not participate in that year's poll, and the party stated that the poll was causing a distraction from the state's official caucus several months after the straw poll.

Results

Summary of results

{, class="wikitable" ! width="16%" , Date ! width="16%" , Associated primaries and/or elections ! width="16%" , Winner of Iowa Straw Poll ! width="16%" , Winner of

Iowa Caucus The Iowa caucuses are biennial electoral events for members of the Democratic and Republican parties in the U.S. state of Iowa. Unlike primary elections in most other U.S. states, where registered voters go to polling places to cast ballot ...

! width="16%" , Winner of Republican

primaries Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the c ...

! width="16%" , Winner of presidential election ! width="4%" , Price of a dinner ticket , - , {{dts, August 1979 , 1980 Republican primaries
1980 presidential election ,

, George H. W. Bush ,

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

, Ronald Reagan , , - , {{dts, September 12, 1987 , 1988 Republican primaries
1988 presidential election ,

Pat Robertson Marion Gordon "Pat" Robertson (born March 22, 1930) is an American media mogul, religious broadcaster, political commentator, former presidential candidate, and former Southern Baptist minister. Robertson advocates a conservative Christian ...

, George H. W. Bush , George H. W. Bush , , - , {{dts, August 19, 1995 , 1996 Republican primaries
1996 presidential election , Bob Dole,

Phil Gramm William Philip Gramm (born July 8, 1942) is an American economist and politician who represented Texas in both chambers of Congress. Though he began his political career as a Democrat, Gramm switched to the Republican Party in 1983. Gramm was ...

(tie) , Bob Dole , Bob Dole ,

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

, , - , {{dts, August 14, 1999 , 2000 Republican primaries
2000 presidential election ,

, George W. Bush , George W. Bush , George W. Bush , $25 , - , {{dts, August 11, 2007 ,

2008 Republican primaries From January 3 to June 3, 2008, voters of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party chose their nominee for President of the United States, president in the 2008 United States presidential election. United States Senate, Senator Jo ...

2008 presidential election ,

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

, $35{{cite news , title=Iowa Straw Poll Regaining Luster , url=http://www.qctimes.com/articles/2007/07/20/news/local/doc46a04563cde01862465366.txt , last=Dorman , first=Todd , newspaper=

Quad-City Times The ''Quad-City Times'' is a daily morning newspaper based in Davenport, Iowa, and circulated throughout the Quad Cities metropolitan area ( Davenport, Bettendorf and Scott County in Iowa; and Moline, East Moline, Rock Island and Rock Isla ...

, date=July 20, 2007 , access-date=July 23, 2007{{cite news , title=Straw Poll Details Jell , url=http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070625/NEWS/70625033/1001 , last=Beaumont , first=Thomas , newspaper=

Des Moines Register ''The Des Moines Register'' is the daily morning newspaper of Des Moines, Iowa. History Early period The first newspaper in Des Moines was the ''Iowa Star''. In July 1849, Barlow Granger began the paper in an abandoned log cabin by the junction ...

, date=June 25, 2007 , access-date=September 6, 2007 {{dead link, date=January 2018 , bot=InternetArchiveBot , fix-attempted=yes , - , {{dts, August 13, 2011 , 2012 Republican primaries
2012 presidential election ,

Michele Bachmann Michele Marie Bachmann (; née Amble; born April 6, 1956) is an American politician who was the U.S. representative for from 2007 until 2015. A member of the Republican Party, she was a candidate for President of the United States in the 20 ...

, Mitt Romney , Barack Obama , $30{{cite web , title=Sen. Rand Paul happy father did so well in straw poll , url=http://www.wpsdlocal6.com/news/local/Sen-Rand-Paul-happy-father-did-so-well-in-straw-poll-127799653.html , publisher= wpsdlocal6 , date=August 15, 2011 , access-date=August 15, 2011 , url-status=dead , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111004220028/http://www.wpsdlocal6.com/news/local/Sen-Rand-Paul-happy-father-did-so-well-in-straw-poll-127799653.html , archive-date=October 4, 2011 , df=mdy-all

Detailed results

1979

won the first Iowa Straw Poll, which had low

voter turnout In political science, voter turnout is the participation rate (often defined as those who cast a ballot) of a given election. This can be the percentage of registered voters, eligible voters, or all voting-age people. According to Stanford Unive ...

, as well as the caucus itself, but

won the Republican nomination.{{cite news , title=Straw poll No-Shows Zap Iowa's Relevance, Some Fear , url=http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070618/NEWS09/706180340/-1/LIFE04&template=printart , last=Beaumont , first=Thomas , newspaper=

, date=June 18, 2007 , access-date=July 23, 2007 {{dead link, date=January 2018 , bot=InternetArchiveBot , fix-attempted=yes

1987

Source of results: Iowa Republican Party{{cite web, title=Straw Poll Info , url=http://www.iowagop.net/downloads/Straw.Poll.Info.pdf , publisher= Iowa Republican Party , access-date=September 6, 2007 , archive-url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20080102195727/http://www.iowagop.net/downloads/Straw.Poll.Info.pdf , archive-date=January 2, 2008 , url-status=dead , df=mdy-all {, class="wikitable" style="margin:auto;" , - ! Place ! Candidate ! Votes ! Percentage , - , 1 ,

, 1,293 , 33.6% , - , 2 ,

, 958 , 24.9% , - , 3 ,

, 864 , 22.5% , - , 4 ,

Jack Kemp Jack French Kemp (July 13, 1935 – May 2, 2009) was an American politician and a professional football player. A member of the Republican Party from New York, he served as Housing Secretary in the administration of President George H. W. Bu ...

, 520 , 13.5% , - , 5 ,

Pete duPont Pierre Samuel "Pete" du Pont IV (January 22, 1935 – May 8, 2021) was an American attorney, businessman, and politician from Rockland, in New Castle County, Delaware, near Wilmington. He was the United States representative for Delaware from ...

, 160 , 4.2% , - , 6 , Alan Heslop , 13 , 0.3% , - , 7 ,

Alexander Haig Alexander Meigs Haig Jr. (; December 2, 1924February 20, 2010) was United States Secretary of State under President Ronald Reagan and White House Chief of Staff under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. Prior to and in between these c ...

, 12 , 0.3% , - , 8 ,

Ben Fernandez Benjamin Fernandez (February 24, 1925 – April 25, 2000) was an American politician, financial consultant and special ambassador. He was a member of the Republican Party. He ran for President of the United States three times, seriously in 1980 a ...

, 8 , 0.2% , - , 9 , Others , 15 , 0.4% , - , Total , , 3,843 , 100%

won the 1987 Iowa Straw Poll. Despite finishing second in the Iowa Straw Poll,

won the

. Despite finishing third in the Iowa Straw Poll,

won the Republican nomination and the presidency.{{cite web , title=For Republicans, Iowa Straw Poll Could Offer Some Answers , url=http://rothenbergpoliticalreport.blogspot.com/2007/05/for-republicans-iowa-straw-poll-could.html , last=Rothenburg , first=Stuart , work=The Rothenburg Political Report , date=May 21, 2007 , access-date=July 23, 2007, archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070718160737/http://rothenbergpoliticalreport.blogspot.com/2007/05/for-republicans-iowa-straw-poll-could.html, archive-date= July 18, 2007 , url-status= live

1995

Source of results: Iowa Republican Party {, class="wikitable" style="margin:auto;" , - ! Place ! Candidate ! Votes ! Percentage , - , 1 (tie) ,

, 2,582 , 24.4% , - , 1 (tie) ,

, 2,582 , 24.4% , - , 3 ,

Pat Buchanan Patrick Joseph Buchanan (; born November 2, 1938) is an American paleoconservative political commentator, columnist, politician, and broadcaster. Buchanan was an assistant and special consultant to U.S. Presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, an ...

, 1,922 , 18.1% , - , 4 ,

Lamar Alexander Andrew Lamar Alexander Jr. (born July 3, 1940) is a retired American lawyer and politician who served as a United States Senator from Tennessee from 2003 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party, he also was the 45th governor of Tennessee fro ...

, 1,156 , 10.9% , - , 5 ,

Alan Keyes Alan Lee Keyes (born August 7, 1950) is an American politician, political activist, author, and perennial candidate who served as the Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs from 1985 to 1987. A member of the Repub ...

, 804 , 7.6% , - , 6 , Morry Taylor , 803 , 7.6% , - , 7 ,

Richard Lugar Richard Green Lugar (April 4, 1932 – April 28, 2019) was an American politician who served as a United States Senator from Indiana from 1977 to 2013. He was a member of the Republican Party. Born in Indianapolis, Lugar graduated from De ...

, 466 , 4.4% , - , 8 ,

Pete Wilson Peter Barton Wilson (born August 23, 1933) is an American attorney and politician who served as the 36th governor of California from 1991 to 1999. A member of the Republican Party, he also served as a United States senator from California bet ...

, 129 , 1.2% , - , 9 ,

Bob Dornan Robert Kenneth Dornan (born April 3, 1933) is an American politician and actor from California. A Republican, Dornan served in the United States House of Representatives from 1977 to 1983 and from 1985 to 1997. He has become well known for publicl ...

, 87 , 0.8% , - , 10 ,

Arlen Specter Arlen Specter (February 12, 1930 – October 14, 2012) was an American lawyer, author and politician who served as a United States Senator from Pennsylvania from 1981 to 2011. Specter was a Democrat from 1951 to 1965, then a Republican from ...

, 67 , 0.6% , - , Total , , 10,958 , 100% 10,958 voters participated in the 1995 Iowa Straw Poll.

and

won with a tie. Bob Dole won the Republican nomination.

1999

Sources of results: Iowa Republican Party,

{{cite web , title=The First GOP Test: Online NewsHour Coverage of the Iowa Straw Poll , url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/election/july-dec99/straw_poll.html , work=Online NewsHour , publisher=

, access-date=July 23, 2007, archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070718023921/http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/election/july-dec99/straw_poll.html, archive-date= July 18, 2007 , url-status= live {, class="wikitable" style="margin:auto;" , - ! Place ! Candidate ! Votes ! Percentage , - , 1 ,

, 7,418 , 31.3% , - , 2 ,

Steve Forbes Malcolm Stevenson Forbes Jr. (; born July 18, 1947) is an American publishing executive and politician who is the editor-in-chief of ''Forbes'', a business magazine. He is the son of longtime ''Forbes'' publisher Malcolm Forbes and the grandso ...

, 4,921 , 20.8% , - , 3 ,

Elizabeth Dole Mary Elizabeth Alexander Hanford Dole (née Hanford; born July 29, 1936)Mary Ella Cathey Hanford, "Asbury and Hanford Families: Newly Discovered Genealogical Information" ''The Historical Trail'' 33 (1996), pp. 44–45, 49. is an American attorn ...

, 3,410 , 14.4% , - , 4 ,

Gary Bauer Gary Lee Bauer (born May 4, 1946) is an American civil servant, activist, and former political candidate. He served in President Ronald Reagan's administration as Under Secretary of Education and Chief Domestic Policy Advisor, and later became p ...

, 2,114 , 8.9% , - , 5 ,

Patrick Buchanan Patrick Joseph Buchanan (; born November 2, 1938) is an American paleoconservative political commentator, columnist, politician, and broadcaster. Buchanan was an assistant and special consultant to U.S. Presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, a ...

, 1,719 , 7.3% , - , 6 ,

, 1,428 , 6.0% , - , 7 ,

, 1,101 , 4.6% , - , 8 ,

Dan Quayle James Danforth Quayle (; born February 4, 1947) is an American politician who served as the 44th vice president of the United States from 1989 to 1993 under President George H. W. Bush. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republic ...

, 916 , 3.9% , - , 9 ,

Orrin Hatch Orrin Grant Hatch (March 22, 1934 – April 23, 2022) was an American attorney and politician who served as a United States senator from Utah from 1977 to 2019. Hatch's 42-year Senate tenure made him the longest-serving Republican U.S. senator ...

, 558 , 2.4% , - , 10 ,

, 83 , 0.4% , - , 11 ,

John Kasich John Richard Kasich Jr. ( ; born May 13, 1952) is an American politician, author, and television news host who served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1983 to 2001 and as the 69th governor of Ohio from 2011 to 2019. A Republican, Kasic ...

, 9 , 0.04% , - , 12 , Bob Smith , 8 , 0.03% , - , Total , , 23,685 , 100% A record 23,685 voters participated in the 1999 Iowa Straw Poll, held at the Hilton Coliseum.

was cemented as the

frontrunner FrontRunner is a commuter rail train operated by the Utah Transit Authority that operates along the Wasatch Front in north-central Utah with service from the Ogden Intermodal Transit Center in central Weber County through Davis County, Salt L ...

by the results of the Iowa Straw Poll and eventually went on to win the Iowa caucuses;

, who had committed a fair amount of cash to winning the poll, was embarrassed by his second-place showing.

, who had spent comparably less, considered her third-place finish a boost to her flagging campaign (though she dropped out two months later due to lackluster fundraising).

, who later emerged as Bush's only serious competition in the GOP primaries, received just 83 votes in the poll, but was not an official candidate at the time; he was also considered unpopular in Iowa due to his opposition to ethanol subsidies. Due to poor results in the Iowa Straw Poll,

and

both dropped out of the presidential race immediately after the Iowa Straw Poll.

2007

Sources of results:

CBS News CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio service CBS. CBS News television programs include the ''CBS Evening News'', ''CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs '' CBS News Sunday Morning'', '' 60 Minutes'', and '' 48 H ...

,{{cite web , title=Romney Wins Iowa GOP Straw Poll , url=http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/08/11/politics/main3158768.shtml/ , last=Ververs , first=Vaughn , work=

, date=August 11, 2007 , access-date=August 11, 2007 ''

'',{{cite news, title=Romney Wins Straw Poll, Huckabee in 2nd , author1=Beaumont, Thomas , author2=Jennifer Jacobs , url=http://www.dmregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070811/NEWS/70811009/1001&lead=1 , newspaper=

, date=August 11, 2007 , access-date=August 11, 2007

KCCI KCCI (channel 8) is a television station in Des Moines, Iowa, United States, affiliated with CBS. Owned by Hearst Television, the station maintains studios on Ninth Street in downtown Des Moines and a transmitter in Alleman. History KCCI start ...

{{cite web , title=Mitt Romney Wins Straw Poll , url=http://www.kcci.com/politics/13872905/detail.html , publisher=

, date=August 12, 2007 , access-date=August 12, 2007 , url-status=dead , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927201011/http://www.kcci.com/politics/13872905/detail.html , archive-date=September 27, 2007 , df=mdy-all {, class="wikitable" style="margin:auto;" , - ! Place ! Candidate ! Votes ! Percentage , - , 1 ,

, 4,516 , 31.6% , - , 2 ,

, 2,587 , 18.1% , - , 3 ,

Sam Brownback Samuel Dale Brownback (born September 12, 1956) is an American attorney, politician, diplomat, and member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party who served as the United States Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Fr ...

, 2,192 , 15.3% , - , 4 ,

Tom Tancredo Thomas Gerard Tancredo (; born December 20, 1945) is an American politician from Colorado, who represented the state's sixth congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 1999 to 2009 as a Republican. He ran for Presi ...

, 1,961 , 13.7% , - , 5 ,

Ron Paul Ronald Ernest Paul (born August 20, 1935) is an American author, activist, physician and retired politician who served as the U.S. representative for Texas's 22nd congressional district from 1976 to 1977 and again from 1979 to 1985, as well ...

, 1,305 , 9.1% , - , 6 ,

Tommy Thompson Tommy George Thompson (born November 19, 1941) is an American Republican politician who most recently served as interim president of the University of Wisconsin System from 2020 to 2022. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served ...

, 1,039 , 7.3% , - , 7 ,

, 203 , 1.4% , - , 8 ,

Rudy Giuliani Rudolph William Louis Giuliani (, ; born May 28, 1944) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 107th Mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001. He previously served as the United States Associate Attorney General from 1981 to 198 ...

, 183 , 1.3% , - , 9 , Duncan Hunter , 174 , 1.2% , - , 10 ,

, 101 , 0.7% , - , 11 ,

John H. Cox John Herman Cox ( Kaplan; born July 15, 1955) is an American businessman, housing developer, and political activist, who has run for public office several times, mostly recently for Governor of California as the GOP candidate. Cox began his po ...

, 41 , 0.3% , - , Total , , 14,302 , 100% 14,302 ballots were cast in the 2007 Iowa-StrawPollNoShows" In June, two months before the poll, presidential candidates

and

announced that they would skip the 2007 Iowa Straw Poll, while

had yet to officially enter the race. The Iowa Republican Party decided to include their names on the ballots anyway.{{cite news , title=Giuliani, McCain Skipping Ames Straw Poll , url=http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2007/06/giuliani_skipping_ames.html , first=Chris , last=Cilliza , work=The Fix , publisher=

, date=June 6, 2007 , access-date=July 23, 2007 Mitt Romney won the straw poll, as had been widely predicted prior to the event.

dropped out of the presidential campaign on August 12, 2007, one day after finishing in sixth place in the Iowa Straw Poll.

2011

The 2011 Iowa Straw Poll was held on August 13, 2011, at the

Hilton Coliseum James H. Hilton Coliseum, commonly Hilton Coliseum, is a 14,267-seat multi-purpose arena located in Ames, Iowa. The arena opened in 1971. It is home to the Iowa State University Cyclones men's and women's basketball teams, wrestling, gymnastics ...

in Ames, Iowa. Sources of results: ''

Washington Examiner The ''Washington Examiner'' is an American conservative news outlet which consists principally of an online/digital website with a weekly magazine, based in Washington, D.C. It is owned by MediaDC, a subsidiary of Clarity Media Group, which is ow ...

'' and

National Journal ''National Journal'' is an advisory services company based in Washington, D.C., offering services in government affairs, advocacy communications, stakeholder mapping, and policy brands research for government and business leaders. It publishes da ...

{, class="wikitable" style="margin:auto;" , - ! Place ! Candidate ! Votes ! Percentage , - , 1 ,

, 4,823 , 28.6% , - , 2 ,

, 4,671 , 27.7% , - , 3 ,

Tim Pawlenty Timothy James Pawlenty (; born November 27, 1960) is an American attorney, businessman, and politician who served as the 39th governor of Minnesota from 2003 to 2011. A member of the Republican Party, Pawlenty served in the Minnesota House o ...

, 2,293 , 13.6% , - , 4 ,

, 1,657 , 9.8% , - , 5 ,

Herman Cain Herman Cain (December 13, 1945July 30, 2020) was an American businessman and Tea Party movement activist within the Republican Party. Born in Memphis, Tennessee, Cain grew up in Georgia and graduated from Morehouse College with a bachelor's d ...

, 1,456 , 8.6% , - , 6 ,

Rick Perry James Richard Perry (born March 4, 1950) is an American politician who served as the 14th United States secretary of energy from 2017 to 2019 and as the 47th governor of Texas from 2000 to 2015. Perry also ran unsuccessfully for the Republica ...

(write-in) , 718 , 4.3% , - , 7 ,

, 567 , 3.4% , - , 8 ,

Newt Gingrich Newton Leroy Gingrich (; né McPherson; born June 17, 1943) is an American politician and author who served as the 50th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1995 to 1999. A member of the Republican Party, he was the U ...

, 385 , 2.3% , - , 9 ,

Jon Huntsman Jon Huntsman may refer to: * Jon Huntsman Sr. Jon Meade Huntsman Sr. (June 21, 1937 – February 2, 2018) was an American businessman and philanthropist. He was the founder and executive chairman of Huntsman Corporation, a global manufacturer ...

, 69 , 0.4% , - , 10 ,

Thaddeus McCotter Thaddeus George "Thad" McCotter (born August 22, 1965) is an American politician, radio host, and a member of the Republican Party who was the U.S. representative from from 2003 to 2012. The district at the time consisted of portions of Detroi ...

, 35 , 0.2% , - , — , Scattering , 218 , 1.30% , - , Total , , 16,892 , 100% Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman were on the ballot but did not actively compete in the 2011 straw poll. The day after the poll, on August 14,

announced his withdrawal from the race after his third-place finish.

, who was not on the poll ballot and only appeared as a

write-in A write-in candidate is a candidate whose name does not appear on the ballot but seeks election by asking voters to cast a vote for the candidate by physically writing in the person's name on the ballot. Depending on electoral law it may be poss ...

candidate, formally announced his candidacy while in

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

on the same day that the poll took place.{{cite news, url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/14/us/politics/14perry.html?_r=1&hp, title=Promising Better Direction, Perry Enters Race, last=Parker, first=Ashley, newspaper=

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

, date=August 13, 2011, access-date=August 14, 2011

2015

In 2015, the Republican Party of Iowa, concerned about the cost charged by Iowa State University in 2011, publicly solicited bids from other potential event sites.{{cite web , title=Iowa GOP may move straw poll to new venue amid bilking concerns , url=http://www.politico.com/story/2015/02/iowa-gop-straw-poll-venue-115192.html , last=Hohmann , first=James , publisher=

Politico ''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American, German-owned political journalism newspaper company based in Arlington County, Virginia, that covers politics and policy in the United States and intern ...

, date=February 13, 2015 , access-date=March 1, 2015 On March 12, 2015, Boone was announced as the winning bidder, after a vote by GOP party board members.{{cite news , title=Iowa Straw Poll is moving to Boone , url=http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/elections/presidential/caucus/2015/03/12/iowa-straw-poll-location-date-set/70201012/ , last=Jacbos , first=Jennifer , newspaper=

The Des Moines Register ''The Des Moines Register'' is the daily morning newspaper of Des Moines, Iowa. History Early period The first newspaper in Des Moines was the ''Iowa Star''. In July 1849, Barlow Granger began the paper in an abandoned log cabin by the junctio ...

, date=March 12, 2015 , access-date=March 12, 2015 However, several of the Republican presidential candidates—including

Jeb Bush John Ellis "Jeb" Bush (born February 11, 1953) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 43rd governor of Florida from 1999 to 2007. Bush, who grew up in Houston, was the second son of former President George H. W. Bush a ...

Lindsey Graham Lindsey Olin Graham (born July 9, 1955) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the senior United States senator from South Carolina, a seat he has held since 2003. A member of the Republican Party, Graham chaired the Senate Committee ...

, and

Marco Rubio Marco Antonio Rubio (born May 28, 1971) is an American politician and lawyer serving as the senior United States senator from Florida, a seat he has held since 2011. A member of the Republican Party, he served as Speaker of the Florida Hous ...

—announced that they would not take part in the straw poll. On June 12, 2015, the Republican Party of Iowa announced that, as the result of a unanimous vote, the straw poll would no longer be held due to the decline in candidate support. Despite the absence of an official straw poll, the 2015

Iowa State Fair The Iowa State Fair is an annual state fair held in Des Moines, Iowa in August. It began in 1854 and has been held on the Iowa State Fairgrounds since 1886. It is based in the state capital Des Moines, Iowa over an 11 day period in August. With ...

held an informal poll of its attendees (both Republican and Democrat), and found

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

to be the most favored GOP candidate, and

Bernie Sanders Bernard Sanders (born September8, 1941) is an American politician who has served as the junior United States senator from Vermont since 2007. He was the U.S. representative for the state's at-large congressional district from 1991 to 2007 ...

the most popular Democrat.{{cite web , url=http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/251279-iowa-state-fair-attendees-pick-sanders-over-clinton , title=Iowa State Fair attendees pick Sanders over Clinton , last=Richardson , first=Bradford , date=August 17, 2015 , website=www.thehill.com , publisher=The Hill , access-date=2015-08-20

Ted Cruz Rafael Edward "Ted" Cruz (; born December 22, 1970) is an American politician and attorney serving as the junior United States Senator from Texas since 2013. A member of the Republican Party, Cruz served as Solicitor General of Texas from ...

went on to win the Iowa GOP caucuses, defeating Donald Trump by 4 percent, while

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...

defeated Bernie Sanders by less than 1 percent on the Democratic side.

References

{{Reflist, 30em

External links

Official site of the Iowa Straw Poll

Official site of the Iowa Republican Party, which organizes the Iowa Straw Poll

Discussion of history of the Iowa Straw Poll
{{U.S. presidential primaries {{United States presidential election, 2012 {{DEFAULTSORT:Iowa Straw Poll (1979-2011) 1979 establishments in Iowa 2015 disestablishments in Iowa Ames, Iowa Recurring events disestablished in 2015 Recurring events established in 1979 United States presidential straw polls