Iowa GOP decides to keep straw poll

DES MOINES, Iowa – Republicans in Iowa have opted to carry on with their presidential straw poll, a summer political tradition that detractors decry as a sideshow.

Despite criticism from some prominent Republicans, including Gov. Terry Branstad, the Republican Party of Iowa’s central committee unanimously voted Saturday to continue the event.

Committee members said the poll energizes the party base and serves as an important early test of a candidate’s campaign strength.

“It is indeed an opportunity for candidates that are lesser known with not nearly the financing that some candidates would have to really have an impact,” committee member Loras Schulte said. “This is kind of the kickoff to the national election, if you will.”

Iowa Republican Party Chairman Jeff Kaufmann said the event will be held in August, but the date and location must still be determined.

The poll has been a lackluster predictor of who will win the GOP nomination since it was first held in 1979. Only twice – in 1995 (Bob Dole, who tied with Phil Gramm) and 1999 (George W. Bush) – has the straw poll winner gone on to win the GOP nomination.

A key question for 2015 is which candidates will choose to participate. If several candidates with more establishment backing opt out, the poll results could be less meaningful.

The Republican National Committee said Thursday the straw poll appears permissible, but the RNC stressed that the event is a fundraiser and the party must make clear that any vote is “unofficial and unscientific.”