The Iowa GOP’s state central committee has reconsidered and voted to reschedule the date of the 2014 Iowa precinct Caucuses to Tuesday, January 21st — the same date Iowa Democrats plan to hold their Caucuses.
Loras Schulte is a long-time Republican activist in eastern Iowa who is a member of the state central committee. He told the committee this evening that it’s “vitally important” for the two parties to be “in tune.”
“I’d like to stress one more time the utter necessity of having it on the same day as the Democrats and at the same time,” Schulte said.
Party leaders had originally set Saturday, January 25th as the date of the GOP’s 2014 Caucuses, raising concerns some people might try to attend the Iowa Democrats’ Caucuses that Tuesday night and then go to the Republican event on Saturday morning, too. Iowa GOP chairman A.J. Spiker told the party’s governing board he’s talked with the Iowa Democratic Party’s new chairman about the Caucus date.
“They have not been open to moving it to Saturday,” Spiker said.
The chairman of the Iowa Democratic Party issued a written statement tonight, thanking the G-O-P for “honoring the long-held tradition of having both party’s Caucuses on the same night.”
The GOP’s state central committee also voted tonight to move the date of the state convention back to June 14. Party leaders voted a few weeks ago to hold it a month later, in July, sparking criticism from several quarters within the party. Republican Governor Terry Branstad called it a “mistake” and Appanoose County Republicans passed a resolution last Thursday calling for the resignation of the state party chairman. There were only two indirect references to the controversy during tonight’s meeting, however.
“Seeing that these dates have been a fairly charged issue and we’ve handled the business on the agenda, I’d just like to move that we adjourn,” committee member Joel Kurtinitis said.
AUDIO of tonight’s meeting via conference call, 35:00