Iowans Happy to Vote First—and Even Happier to See Campaigns, Media Move On

DES MOINES, Iowa—Goodbye, Pizza Ranch. See you at the 2027 state fair, Butter Cow. No more elbowing past stray presidential candidates and TV camera crews from around the world to get a coffee at the local Casey’s convenience store for the next three years.

The media circus that is the Iowa caucuses has moved on to New Hampshire and, in an eye blink of two days, the Jan. 15 first-in-the-nation 2024 Republican presidential preference vote is now ancient history.

“It’s like the World Cup,” said Craig Smith of Des Moines while waiting for Vivek Ramaswamy to take the stage at The Surety Hotel as caucus counts concluded to announce he was suspending his campaign and endorsing Donald Trump after the former president cruised to a resounding victory.

“We have all eyes on us for what? Almost two years? Then, poof, it’s over, and we’re a backwater,” he said. “I don’t think [the caucuses] were as big as 2020 or 2016. I’ve only been interviewed twice now by reporters. Usually, it’s four, five [times] at least.”

Indeed, while statewide economic data on “caucus capitalism” is not yet available, first-blush estimates by Catch Des Moines, the capital city’s tourism agency, document a significant decline reported by local hotels, car rental franchises, restaurants, and bars—especially bars—in revenues compared to 2020.

“We calculate for the week of the caucus itself in the Des Moines metro area, indirect spending at $4.2 million,” Catch Des Moines CEO Greg Edwards told The Epoch Times, which would be about 40 percent of the $11.3 million spent during the 2020 caucus week.

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Media interest was also down, Catch Des Moines reported. More than 2,000 reporters registered with the agency to operate out of its caucus media space at the Iowa Events Center in downtown Des Moines in 2020. Less than half that many signed on for caucus week 2024, with none of the major TV networks dispatching “news celebrity” anchors to wander Iowa’s streets searching for interviews.

That’s not necessarily a surprise, considering Iowa was pounded by a blizzard Jan. 12-13 and then locked into a deep freeze with temperatures plunging into minus-double digits aggravated by face-freezing windchills of -40 degrees. It was no place for the ambivalent.

More significantly, while Democrats sort of semi-caucused on Jan. 15 to discuss “party business” under President Joe Biden, the Democratic National Committee has opted to stage its first official 2024 preliminary presidential contest in South Carolina.

Mr. Edwards said he hopes Democrats reconsider moving their first presidential preference contest to South Carolina in 2028. As it turns out, “We need them here” rather than spending dollars elsewhere, he said.

Nat Kuropas and Alicia Korenini, who work at Rayguns, an iconic T-shirt and apparel store in Des Moines East Village a few blocks from the state capitol complex, told The Epoch Times on Jan. 16 that with Democrats not caucusing, business was noticeably down.

“It was far slower than what we expected from previous caucuses, nowhere near what we anticipated,” Ms. Kuropas said, noting she was interviewed by TV crews from Ukraine and Germany. “It was a very different experience. It was fun.”

Ms. Korenini said she was interviewed by reporters from Japan and England. A group of students from London “on a class field trip” also swang by the store, she said. Other than that, “it was steady with journalists” shopping for caucus mementos.

The best-selling t-shirt of the 2024 caucuses was ‘What The Hell Is An Iowa Caucus,’ Ms. Kupolas said. “We sold out.”

Considering the store’s decidedly liberal slant, she added, it’s not surprising that “We don’t get too many Republicans in here.”

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Perhaps even more significantly, with polls showing former President Donald Trump far ahead of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, and Ohio biotech entrepreneur Ramaswamy, a projected non-competitive race turned out to be, indeed, non-competitive.

President Trump won 51 percent of the vote, more than 30 percentage points ahead of second-place finisher Mr. DeSantis.

The pre-caucus unspoken consensus that President Trump would romp it in may have fostered media disengagement and convinced some voters to stay home. More than 187,000 Republicans cast ballots in 2016’s GOP caucus, only 110,300 did so on Jan. 15.

Aside from 2020, when there wasn’t a GOP presidential caucus because Mr. Trump was unchallenged, the party’s 2024 caucus turnout was the lowest since 2000.

Iowa’s 2024 caucus did produce at least one winner in terms of financial gain—campaigns and political action groups spent more than $124 million in television, radio, and digital advertising over the last 13 months, according to AdImpact, which tracks campaign spending.

President Trump’s, Mr. DeSantis’s, and Ms. Haley’s campaigns accounted for $84 million of that total, AdImpact tabulates, with the caucuses also generating a boon for Iowa’s political consultant industry.

Caucus Fatigue

Voters, political operatives, and just plain folks told Epoch Times reporters the hoopla and hype generated by the caucuses, and their often incidental immersion into it, was exciting but they’re happy to see the campaigns, candidates, and media move along.

Thomas Vanderbruggen, 25, of Des Moines, an independent, said he is “ecstatic” that the caucuses are over.

“It’s only ever four years, but that’s more often than I want it to be,” he told The Epoch Times.

Matthew Garcia, 34, of Des Moines, an independent who said he previously had little interest in party politics but was drawn into the 2024 fray by Mr. Ramaswamy’s campaign, said he’s had enough of all the politicking as well.

But, he told The Epoch Times he is looking forward to 2028 and was impressed with how engaged Iowans were. “My neighbors and friends, they were all involved” and despite differences, it was friendly and fun, he said.

During a Jan. 13 stump stop at the James Theater in Iowa City, Ms. Haley may have drawn the biggest applause of the night after telling supporters, “In two more days, no more commercials, no more mailers, no more text messages. Iowa loves the candidates but loves to see them go.

“All eyes are on Iowa and you guys get it—you know you’re setting the tone for the country,” she added.

With so many newcomers in the city before the caucuses unfamiliar with Des Moines, wary locals learn to watch out for confused journalists inadvertently driving the wrong way on downtown’s one-way streets, most notoriously Grand and Locust.

Elliot Frey of Des Moines told The Epoch Times he heard REI stores in the Des Moines area were enjoying a banner month with all the media coming to town and not ready for the cold.

“I could have directed them to a Walmart and they could have saved some money,” he said.

Like many, Mr. Frey said he’s grateful it’s over but glad to see so many eyes on Iowa.

“I’ll be happy when the text messages from all the candidates are done, but I’ll tell you, it’s a privilege to be the first, and we take it seriously. It’s a privilege. But yes, we’re happy when it’s over,” he said.

Ditto for Lisa Jones of Cedar Rapids. “I think we’re blessed in Iowa to have this, even with the weather, to be able to be participating in this way and having everybody care,” she told The Epoch Times on Jan. 12.

“But then,” she continued, “you know what? Next week, when everybody—the press—goes home, that’s fine, too.”

Even political operatives expressed caucus fatigue.

Bremer County Republican Committee Chair John Pentecost said as the party chief for the county, he’s a bit disappointed the causes are over “because, you know, there was always something to do, and we were working at it” to ensure voters knew where to go and how to caucus.

“But as just a regular citizen, I’ll be happy to not have the texts and the junk mail and phone calls all the time,” he told The Epoch Times. “So that part of it, I am excited” for the caucuses to be over.

But, Mr. Pentecost noted, the caucuses are just the beginning, even in Iowa. A county party chair’s work is never done, he said.

“As for the process, now we just move on to the next step. Our county delegates will meet next month, and we’ll work on that, and then we‘ll take that to districts, and then we’ll take it to our state convention this summer.”

Lawrence Wilson contributed to this report