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Democratic Presidential Candidate Joe Biden Campaigns In Iowa

Iowa caucuses 2020

Voters are heading to the caucuses in Iowa for the first contest of the 2020 Democratic primary.

Contributors: Vox Staff

With polls of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary showing a four-way race and no clear leader, voters in Iowa will head to their caucus locations on Monday, February 3, for the first contest of the primary. From a field that once numbered 28 candidates, only 12 are still in the running as the delegate race begins.

The caucuses will get started at 7 pm Central time.

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and former Vice President Joe Biden have been trading leads in the most recent polling, with former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren close behind. Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who achieved double-digit support in a recent Monmouth University poll, could also be a surprise contender.

The caucus system can be confusing: There will be three sets of numbers coming out of Iowa, but only one, the number of state delegate equivalents, will matter for the Democratic nomination. Raw vote totals, however, could prove equally important from an optics perspective.

For a candidate to have a real shot at competing in Iowa, they will have to win at least 15 percent in a caucus — above the “viability threshold” — to avoid being eliminated from delegate contention.

From Iowa, candidates will head into an eighth Democratic debate in New Hampshire on Friday before that state’s primary on Tuesday, February 11. Any candidate who wins a pledged delegate in Iowa will automatically qualify for the debate stage.

Follow along below for Vox’s coverage of the 2020 Iowa caucuses, including how to watch, breaking news updates, analysis, and more.

46 Total Updates Since
Jan 25, 2020, 4:49pm EST
  • March 16, 2020

    The strange and crucially important order of the Democratic primary states, explained

    By Andrew Prokop and Christina Animashaun

    To win the nomination, a candidate must master this calendar of staggered contests. Here’s the order — and why it’s set up this way.

  • March 2, 2020

    Pete Buttigieg is more electable than Bernie Sanders — and more progressive than you think

    By Dylan Matthews

    Buttigieg dropped out of the race for the Democratic nomination on March 1. Here’s the case for his candidacy from a Vox series published earlier in 2020.

  • February 12, 2020

    Democratic Party officials don’t want Iowa and New Hampshire to go first anymore

    By Katelyn Burns

    Tom Perez and Harry Reid want the Democratic nomination process to reflect party diversity.

  • February 11, 2020

    New poll finds most voters believe Trump will win reelection — even many who don’t want him to

    By Katelyn Burns

    Voters also weighed in on Iowa and New Hampshire voting first for presidential nominee in new poll.

  • February 9, 2020

    With all the votes counted, Pete Buttigieg won the Iowa caucuses — but Bernie Sanders is challenging

    By Dylan Scott

    The Iowa Democratic Party is done delivering results, but Bernie Sanders won the popular vote and is calling for a recanvass.

  • February 9, 2020

    The Iowa Democratic Party releases preliminary national delegate counts

    By Riley Beggin

    The estimates come following a review of the results from 95 precincts requested by three campaigns.

  • February 8, 2020

    Acronym, the dark money group behind the Iowa caucuses app meltdown, explained

    By Emily Stewart

    "People have been waiting for this to blow up."

  • February 7, 2020

    Nevada promises its caucuses will go better than Iowa’s

    By Cameron Peters

    The Nevada Democratic Party says it won’t use the same app as Iowa did for caucus results.

  • February 6, 2020

    Bernie Sanders has declared victory in Iowa, without the final results

    By Ella Nilsen

    Sanders just declared a "strong victory" in Iowa, after the DNC called for a recanvass.

  • February 6, 2020

    The Iowa caucus smartphone app disaster, explained

    By Sara Morrison

    Turns out using an app to tally election results wasn’t such a good idea.

  • February 6, 2020

    The latest Iowa caucuses drama, from an app meltdown to a possible recanvass, explained

    By Emily Stewart

    If you were already nervous about 2020, what’s going on in Iowa is not going to make you feel any better.

  • February 6, 2020

    Satellite caucuses could put Bernie Sanders over the top in Iowa

    By Ella Nilsen

    The Sanders campaign’s satellite caucus strategy could give him a boost in a close race.

  • February 5, 2020

    Iowa Democratic caucuses: Live results

    By Andrew Prokop

    After a delay in tallying, the Iowa Democratic Party has released partial results that show Pete Buttigieg and Bernie Sanders leading different metrics.

  • February 4, 2020

    Iowa Democratic caucuses: We still don’t have the full results

    By Andrew Prokop

    The first electoral test for Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Pete Buttigieg, and the rest of the 2020 Democratic field was derailed by new rules and delays in reporting the results.

  • February 4, 2020

    Trump’s post-Iowa caucuses messaging is a bad omen for Democrats in 2020

    By Aaron Rupar

    The Iowa debacle played right into Trump’s conspiratorial tendencies.

  • February 4, 2020

    How the Iowa caucus rule changes complicated this year’s count

    By Andrew Prokop

    The problems go beyond the app.

  • February 4, 2020

    Technical difficulties in Iowa caucuses lead to widespread confusion, delayed results

    By Sara Morrison

    The 2020 election cycle kicks off with problems at the Iowa caucuses.

  • February 4, 2020

    How caucus critics could dethrone Iowa

    By Li Zhou

    Despite the debacle this year, it won’t be easy.

  • February 4, 2020

    The Democratic primary has a legitimacy problem

    By Zack Beauchamp

    The Iowa results debacle has undermined faith in the entire primary process — and that’s really, really dangerous.

  • February 4, 2020

    The 2020 Iowa caucuses should be the last

    By Ian Millhiser

    The Iowa caucuses are a terrible, anti-democratic disaster even when they do count the votes.

  • February 4, 2020

    The Iowa caucuses are broken. Here’s an idea to fix the primary process.

    By Sean Illing

    It’s time to end Iowa’s first-in-the-nation status.

  • February 4, 2020

    What we know about turnout for the 2020 Iowa caucuses

    By German Lopez

    Don’t panic about potentially low voter turnout in Iowa just yet.

  • February 4, 2020

    “No matter what, there will be persistent doubts about how this process was carried out”

    By Sean Illing

    An expert explains how the Iowa debacle underscores the great danger of the 2020 election.

  • February 4, 2020

    Don’t fall for conspiracy theories about the Iowa caucus results

    By German Lopez

    While things clearly didn’t go as planned, you shouldn’t believe the conspiracy theories.

  • February 4, 2020

    Why the Iowa results are taking so long

    By Zack Beauchamp, Cameron Peters, and Sean Collins

    The state party says a smartphone app "coding" problem is partly to blame.