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Trivia answer
What was the first presidential election cycle in which Iowa held the earliest nominating contest?
a. 1956
b. 1972
c. 1984
d. 2004
Iowa first held the earliest nominating contest nationwide in the 1972 Democratic primary process. Beginning in 1976, Iowa became the earliest nominating contest for the Republican presidential nomination as well.[1]
According to the Des Moines Register, Iowa's status as an early nominating state grew out of changes the Democratic Party made to its nominating process following the 1968 convention. The party aimed to give voters more influence over selecting the presidential nominee rather than party leaders. In Iowa, this meant adding local district-level nominating conventions to the calendar before the state convention, meaning the state needed to hold its initial caucuses earlier in the year.[2]
Since 1972, only three non-incumbents have gone on to win the presidency after winning their party's Iowa caucus: Jimmy Carter (D) in 1976, George W. Bush (R) in 2000, and Barack Obama (D) in 2008. The only year where neither party's Iowa winner went on to win the nomination was 1988, when Sen. Bob Dole (R) won the Republican nomination and former Rep. Dick Gephardt (D) won the Democratic nomination. The worst Iowa caucus performance by an eventual presidential winner was Bill Clinton's (D) 2.8% in 1992.[3]
