On Tuesday, the Marshalltown Rotary Club’s weekly meeting was accompanied by a presentation and discussion of the history of the caucus, and the importance of Iowa’s place as first in the order on both sides of the aisle.

Leading the presentations were the two Marshall County chairs of the main political parties — Republican chair Reed Riskedahl and Democratic chair Jeannine Grady.

Riskedahl started with a brief history of why primaries and caucuses came to be across the country and particularly in the state of Iowa. He said the 1968 Democratic National Convention was a reason the party changed its ways and produced an open caucus system. In the 1968 election, Hubert Humphrey of Minnesota was nominated by Democratic party leaders from the floor. Humphrey had not participated in state primaries, which is not possible under the current system in either party.

Riskedahl added that the two parties at the state level collaborate to make sure Iowa maintains its place as first despite outside pressure.

T-R photos by Noah Rohlfing Marshall County Republican chair Reed Riskedahl discusses the importance of the Iowa caucus at the Marshalltown Rotary Club’s Tuesday meeting.

“Believe me, there’s a lot of people out there who don’t want that to occur,” Riskedahl said. “We’re attacked on a regular basis. Both parties work hard together to make sure we fend those things off, and we’ve been successful so far.”

Grady explained a few of the differences between how the Democrats and Republicans conduct their own caucus — the Democrats don’t vote with paper ballots.

“You vote with your body,” Grady said. “You physically stand in a part of the room with all the other people who are caucusing for the same candidate.”

She added another difference is that the Republicans have all precinct caucuses at the high school, while each Democratic precinct in the county holds its own caucus. In total, Grady is organizing 19 in Marshall County for the Democratic primary.

Grady continued to explain the nuances of the caucus. She mentioned that a candidate in a precinct with more than four delegates must get 15 percent of the vote to be “viable,” and added that there is — however small — a possibility that, with 14 different candidates in the running, an “uncommitted” delegation could win the caucus. She added that the party will add Presidential preference cards to the caucus. That move is the closest the party can come to having a paper ballot like Republicans use without the Democratic National Convention regarding it as a primary. In a primary, the state government is the organizer, while in a caucus that responsibility falls on the shoulders of the state political parties. Having a primary instead of a caucus would jeopardize the state’s chances of remaining first in the nation.

Riskedahl pointed out the work that goes in on both sides of the aisle organizing, finding committee members and putting the caucus on — and just how quickly the national media spotlight will move away from the state after it’s over.

“That entire media mob will leave overnight and descend on New Hampshire,” Riskedahl said. “A lot of those organizers will also bail.”

But, Riskedahl said, the most important part of the caucus is the opportunity for all Iowans to have a voice.

“We allow every single person to have a word in that whole process, and that’s critically important,” Riskedahl said.

Did you know?

— Marshall County voters can register to vote at either party’s caucus location in your precinct.

— Voters can change their party designation in order to participate in either party’s caucus. This can also be done at precinct locations.

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Contact Noah Rohlfing at 641-753-6611 or nrohlfing@timesrepublican.com.