2016 Iowa Democratic presidential caucuses

none June 2025 April 2016 2016 Democratic Party presidential primaries 2016 Iowa Democratic presidential caucuses Iowa Flag of Iowa (xrmap collection).svg presidential no 2012 Iowa Democratic presidential caucuses 2012 2016 02 01 2020 Iowa Democratic presidential caucuses 2020 51 Democratic National Convention delegates(44 pledged, 7 unpledged) SDEs State delegate equivalents (SDEs) are used to calculate how many delegates each candidate gets both in each district and on state-level. The statewide total includes the four district SDE results as well as the SDE result from the satellite caucuses outside the state. Percentage (of SDEs) File:Hillary Clinton by Gage Skidmore 2.jpg 160x160px Hillary Clinton d4aa00 New York 23 700.47 49.84% File:Bernie Sanders September 2015 cropped.jpg Bernie Sanders 228B22 Vermont 21 696.92 49.59% 250px 250px Iowa results by county (state delegate equivalents) Clinton #faec63 40 – 50% #eccc4b 50 – 60% #cdac39 60 – 70% #a8862b 70 – 80% Sanders #a6f398 40 – 50% #55BE55 50 – 60% #228B22 60 – 70% #005D00 70 – 80% Tie #dcb7ef 40 – 50% #c88fe4 50% NH The 2016 Iowa Democratic presidential caucuses were held on Monday February 1 in Iowa, as usual marking the Democratic Party's first nominating contest in their series of presidential primaries ahead of the 2016 presidential election. The Republican Party held its own Iowa caucuses on the same day. Hillary Clinton eked out a razor-thin victory over Bernie Sanders in the first-in-the-nation Iowa Caucus by the closest margin in the history of the contest: 49.8% to 49.6% (Clinton collected 700.47 state delegate equivalents to Sanders' 696.92, a difference of one quarter of a percentage point).http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2016/president/ia/iowa_democratic_presidential_caucus-3195.html Election 2016 - Iowa Democratic Presidential Caucus RealClearPolitics March 28, 2016 The victory, which was projected to award her 23 pledged national convention delegates (two more than Sanders), made Clinton the first woman to win the Caucus and marked a clear difference from 2008, where she finished in third place behind Obama and John Edwards.http://whotv.com/2016/02/02/hillary-clinton-narrowly-defeats-bernie-sanders-in-iowa-democratic-caucuses/ All Precincts Reported: Clinton Defeats Sanders By Historically Small Margin WHO-TV Des Moines, Iowa Hepker Aaron February 2, 2016 June 25, 2016 March 17, 2018 https://web.archive.org/web/20180317205502/http://whotv.com/2016/02/02/hillary-clinton-narrowly-defeats-bernie-sanders-in-iowa-democratic-caucuses/ deadhttps://www.advocate.com/election/2016/2/02/and-winner-iowa-caucus-hillary-clinton-barely And the Winner of the Iowa Caucus Is: Hillary Clinton (Barely) 0001-8996 The Advocate Ennis Dawn February 2, 2016https://www.nytimes.com/elections/results/iowa Iowa Caucus Results February 27, 2016 The New York Times February 28, 2016http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/primaries/IA Iowa Caucus 2016: Election Results NBC News February 2, 2016 According to entrance polls, Hillary Clinton owed her razor-thin victory to a slight advantage among white voters, voters over 45, and women.2016-02-01 Iowa Entrance Polls https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/02/01/us/elections/iowa-democrat-poll.html,%20https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/02/01/us/elections/iowa-democrat-poll.html 2025-08-30 The New York Times en-US 0362-4331 Martin O'Malley suspended his campaign after a disappointing third-place finish with only 0.5% of the state delegate equivalents awarded, leaving Clinton and Sanders the only two major candidates in the race.https://www.npr.org/2016/02/01/465224058/martin-omalley-ends-presidential-bid Martin O'Malley Ends Presidential Bid February 1, 2016 NPR Taylor, Jessica February 1, 2016 171,517 people participated in the 2016 Iowa Democratic caucuses.Statement from IDP Chair on Tonight’s Historically Close Caucus Results Iowa Democratic Party. 2 February 2016. thumb|Hillary Clinton launched her campaign in Iowa, April 2015 thumb|Bernie Sanders campaigns in Iowa in January 2016 thumb|Sanders supporters in Iowa, January 31, 2016 Procedure Walking subcaucus There was no ballot; instead, a unique form of debate and groupings chose delegates to county conventions supporting Hillary Clinton, Martin O'Malley, and Bernie Sanders. The Iowa Democratic Party did not release vote counts or the numbers of these delegates. Instead, they released the estimated amount of state delegates supporting each candidate.http://iowademocrats.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/2016-IDP-Final-Precinct-Caucus-Results-PrecinctCandidateResults1.pdf Archived copy April 2, 2016 https://web.archive.org/web/20160207233823/http://iowademocrats.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/2016-IDP-Final-Precinct-Caucus-Results-PrecinctCandidateResults1.pdf February 7, 2016 dead The county conventions selected delegates to district and state conventions, which in turn selected the delegates to the Democratic National Convention. The delegates at the county, district and state conventions were not pledged and were allowed to change their preference, meaning that the final result of the state delegates could have been different from what was estimated at the Iowa precinct caucuses. Delegates to the 2016 Democratic National Convention were selected at district and state conventions. The First and Second congressional districts received 8 district delegates, the Third received 7 and the Fourth received 6. These district delegates were elected at the District Conventions based on the result in each Congressional District.https://www.thegreenpapers.com/P16/IA-D The Green Papers: 2016 Presidential Primaries, Caucuses, and Conventions The Green Papers At the State Convention, the 15 statewide pledged delegates were elected based on the statewide results. 9 of these delegates were At-Large and 6 were Party Leaders and Elected Officials (PLEO) who were pledged based on the proportion of At-Large delegates supporting candidates. The Iowa delegation also included 8 superdelegates who were not pledged based on the result of the caucus process, which included 1 U.S. Representative and 7 Democratic National Committee members. Debates and forums November 2015 debate in Des Moines Second Democratic Party presidential debate, November 2015 in Des Moines, Iowa On November 14, 2015, the Democratic Party held a second presidential debate at the Sheslow Auditorium at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. Hosted by CBS News Political Director John Dickerson, it aired on CBS News and was also broadcast by KCCI and The Des Moines Register. With the remaining candidates Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, and Martin O'Malley participating, it was the first debate to be broadcast over nationwide network television, the previous debate having gone over cable.https://www.politico.com/story/2015/11/second-democratic-2016-debate-iowa-when-is-it-215792 Everything you need to know about Saturday's Democratic debate Politico November 12, 2015 November 13, 2015 Weiland, Noah As the day before the debate, November 13, was the day of the November 2015 Paris attacks, CBS announced that the debate would focus on foreign policy and terrorism.https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/14/us/politics/democratic-debate-to-get-new-terrorism-focus-after-paris-attacks-cbs-says.html?_r=0 CBS Shifts Emphasis of Democratic Debate to Reflect Paris Attacks New York Times Steel Emily November 14, 2015 November 15, 2015 In addition, a moment of silence was held at the beginning of the debate in memory of the victims. January 2016 forum in Des Moines 2016 Democratic Party presidential debates On January 11, 2016 the "Black and Brown" forum was held at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. Focusing on minority issues, it aired on Fusion.Gold Hadas Hadas Gold Fusion to host Democratic presidential forum https://www.politico.com/blogs/on-media/2015/11/fusion-to-host-democratic-presidential-forum-216075 Politico January 11, 2016 November 19, 2015 Opinion polling Statewide opinion polling for the 2016 Democratic Party presidential primaries Results Iowa Democratic county conventions, March 13, 2016 Candidate State delegates Estimated delegates Count Percentage Pledged Unpledged Total Hillary Clinton 704 50.07% 23 6 29 Bernie Sanders 700 49.79% 21 0 21 Martin O'Malley 1 0.07% 0 0 0 Uncommitted 1 0.07% 0 1 1 Total 1,406 100% 44 7 51 Source: Iowa Democrats Iowa Democratic District conventions, April 30, 2016 Candidate State delegates Estimated delegates Count Percentage Pledged Unpledged Total Hillary Clinton 697 50.40% 23 6 29 Bernie Sanders 686 49.60% 21 0 21 Uncommitted 1 1 Total 1,383 100% 44 7 51 Source: Iowa Democrats Iowa State Democratic Convention, June 18, 2016 Candidate State delegates Estimated delegates Count Percentage Pledged Unpledged Total Hillary Clinton 714 55.56% 23 6 29 Bernie Sanders 571 44.44% 21 0 21 Uncommitted 1 1 Total 1,285 100% 44 7 51 Source: Iowa Democrats Following a poor result in the caucuses, Martin O'Malley announced he was suspending his campaign.https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/02/us/politics/martin-o-malley-ends-presidential-campaign.html Martin O'Malley to Drop Out After Finish in Iowa Vote Parker Ashley 2016-02-01 The New York Times 0362-4331 2016-06-21 Controversy thumb|150px|Results of the Iowa Democratic caucus, 2016 #1666cb Clinton—70-80%#4389e3 Clinton—60-70%#86b6f2 Clinton—50-60%#b9d7ff Clinton—<50%Purple Tie between Clinton and Sanders#f2b3be Sanders—<50%#e27f90 Sanders—50-60%#cc2f4a Sanders—60-70%#d40000 Sanders—70-80% "Organizational issues around the caucus", including difficulty identifying volunteers to "oversee individual precinct caucuses," contributed to a "disorganized process that lent itself to chaos and conspiracy theories" according to The Guardian. Iowa Democratic party altered precinct's caucus results during chaotic night https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/feb/05/iowa-democratic-party-altered-precinct-caucus-results-clinton-sanders The Guardian February 5, 2016 February 6, 2016 0261-3077 en-GB Ben Jacobs Both the Sanders and Clinton campaigns have flagged a very small number of concerns for us, and we are looking at them all on a case-by-case basis. Sam Lau Iowa Democratic Party After initially refusing to review caucus results, Iowa Democratic Party officials did end up "making updates where discrepancies have been found." Iowa margin between Clinton, Sanders shifts as errors found https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/elections/presidential/caucus/2016/02/05/iowa-margin-between-clinton-sanders-shifts-errors/79877898/ Des Moines Register February 5, 2016 Jacobs Jennifer February 5, 2016 The USA Today Network With "doubts about which Democratic candidate actually won the Iowa caucuses," there have been "fresh calls for the party to mirror the simple, secret-ballot method" the Republicans use. Stated Norm Sterzenbach, former Iowa Democratic Party executive director who oversaw five election cycles: "It's worth discussing again, but it's not as simple as it sounds." Uproar could lead to revamping Democratic caucuses https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/elections/presidential/caucus/2016/02/06/uproar-could-lead-revamping-democratic-caucuses/79910420/ Des Moines Register February 7, 2016 February 6, 2016 The USA Today Network Jacobs Jennifer It is said that Clinton won by the thinnest margin in the history of Iowa caucuses. Instances Iowa Democrats reported "discrepancies in caucus results" and confusion over the math of the delegate-awarding system. In Grinnell Ward 1, 19 delegates were awarded to Sanders and seven to Clinton on caucus night. The Iowa Democratic party later shifted one delegate from Sanders to Clinton, but did not notify the precinct secretary, who "only discovered that this happened the next day, when checking the precinct results in other parts of the county." Other reported discrepancies included: the lone caucusgoer in Woodbury County No. 43, who voted for Sanders—but "final results state" Clinton won one county delegate and Sanders zero. in Knoxville No. 3, where the count was 58 for Sanders and 52 for Clinton—but official results showed Clinton with five county delegates and Sanders with four. the four delegates in Cedar Rapids No. 9 precinct who split evenly between Sanders and Clinton—but only 131 people signed in at the beginning of the caucus with two separate head counts showing 136 people voted. In Des Moines No. 42, "after everyone had formed initial groups for their preferred candidate," a Clinton supporter addressed O'Malley supporters and undecideds, telling them "they could stay and realign or leave." Some mistakenly believed that meant voting was finished and left early without being counted. Iowans claim instances when Sanders was shorted delegates https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/elections/presidential/caucus/2016/02/06/iowans-claim-instances-when-sanders-shorted-delegates/79902080/ Des Moines Register February 7, 2016 Jacobs Jennifer The USA Today Network February 7, 2016 In the same precinct, votes were still missing the morning after the caucus. Democrats "from that neighborhood scrambled to find party officials" to report that Sanders won by a margin of two delegates over Clinton. This narrowed Clinton's "excruciatingly close lead" even further—bringing the tally for "delegate equivalents" at that point to Clinton 699.57, Sanders 697.77. Missing precinct scrambles to report Sanders won https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/elections/presidential/caucus/2016/02/02/some-democratic-precinct-results-unaccounted/79682184/ Des Moines Register February 4, 2016 Coin tosses The Des Moines Register reported "an unknown number" of county delegates awarded "after the flip of a coin." Sam Lau, a spokesman for the Iowa Democratic Party, said seven coin flips were reported through "the party's smartphone app"—but officials who reported county delegate totals via the app "weren't required to signify if the win was the result of a coin toss." Lau said Bernie Sanders won six of these. The paper identified "six coin flips through social media and one in an interview with a caucus participant"—with Clinton the apparent winner of six of these seven. Any overlap, or its impact on results, between the coin flips identified by the Register and those the party confirmed was not known. https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/elections/presidential/caucus/2016/02/02/iowa-caucus-coin-flip-count-unknown/79708740/ Iowa caucus coin flip count unknown February 3, 2016 Des Moines Register February 2, 2016 Clayworth Jason Noble Jason The Des Moines Register An Iowa Democratic Party official told NPR there were "at least a dozen tiebreakers" decided by a coin toss— and that "Sen. Sanders won at least a handful." Coin-Toss Fact Check: No, Coin Flips Did Not Win Iowa For Hillary Clinton https://www.npr.org/2016/02/02/465268206/coin-toss-fact-check-no-coin-flips-did-not-win-iowa-for-hillary-clinton February 3, 2016 Domenico Montanaro NPR February 2, 2016 https://web.archive.org/web/20160203073439/http://www.npr.org/2016/02/02/465268206/coin-toss-fact-check-no-coin-flips-did-not-win-iowa-for-hillary-clinton February 3, 2016 live Gone unmentioned so far is that even if Clinton won that Miracle Six — and there were no other coin tosses — it would make little difference in the outcome. That is, in part, because of the complicated way Iowa Democrats allocate their delegates — and what was being reported on election night and what wasn't. Coin-Toss Fact Check: No, Coin Flips Did Not Win Iowa For Hillary Clinton https://www.npr.org/2016/02/02/465268206/coin-toss-fact-check-no-coin-flips-did-not-win-iowa-for-hillary-clinton NPR.org February 3, 2016 Domenico Montanaro Domenico Montanaro NPR Review Sanders' campaign "launched" a review of the results of the caucuses, citing as "complicating factors" the "razor-thin margin", the "arcane" caucusing rules, the reporting delays from some precincts, and the reporting technology used. The campaign is rechecking results precinct-by-precinct, reviewing "math sheets or other paperwork" precinct chairs used and were supposed to return to party officials—then comparing these with results entered into the party's Microsoft app. Rania Batrice, a Sanders spokeswoman, challenged: "Let's compare notes. Let's see if they match." In an editorial, The Des Moines Register called for an audit of the results, declaring "What happened Monday night at the Democratic caucuses was a debacle, period." Editorial: Something smells in the Democratic Party https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/opinion/editorials/caucus/2016/02/03/editorial-something-smells-democratic-party/79777580/ Des Moines Register February 4, 2016 First noting that only two-tenths of a percent separated Sanders and Clinton and "much larger margins trigger automatic recounts in other states," they stated: Too many accounts have arisen of inconsistent counts, untrained and overwhelmed volunteers, confused voters, cramped precinct locations, a lack of voter registration forms and other problems. Too many of us, including members of the Register editorial board who were observing caucuses, saw opportunities for error amid Monday night's chaos. In lieu of "official paper records" the party had "declined to provide the campaign"—which would show individual precinct vote tallies before they were entered into the party's app the night of the caucuses—the Sanders' campaign was contacting each of its own precinct captains to reconstruct caucus results. Sanders campaign says it was denied paper records of Iowa caucus vote https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/sanders-campaign-says-it-was-denied-paper-records-of-iowa-caucus-vote/2016/02/04/fcdc8f46-cb93-11e5-88ff-e2d1b4289c2f_story.html The Washington Post February 4, 2016 February 5, 2016 0190-8286 en-US Tom Hamburger Sanders' campaign manager Jeff Weaver said: "I think everybody has an interest in making it as accurate as possible", though "[a]s an empirical matter, we're not likely to ever know what the actual result was". Sanders campaign reviewing Iowa caucus totals, says actual result may never be known https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/02/02/sanders-campaign-reviewing-iowa-caucus-totals-says-actual-result-may-never-be-known/ The Washington Post February 2, 2016 February 2, 2016 0190-8286 en-US John Wagner Let's not blow this out of proportion. This is not the biggest deal in the world. We think, by the way, based on talking to our precinct captains, we may have at least two more delegates."Jacobs Ben Iowa Democratic party altered precinct's caucus results during chaotic night https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/feb/05/iowa-democratic-party-altered-precinct-caucus-results-clinton-sanders February 6, 2016 The Guardian February 5, 2016 Bernie Sanders Analysis thumb|Iowa Caucus Winners – political cartoon by DonkeyHotey Despite a late challenge from insurgent Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, whose populist economic message resonated with Iowa's progressive Democratic electorate, Clinton eked out a 0.2-percentage-point victory in the first-in-the-nation caucus, edging out Sanders by only four state delegate equivalents. As The New York Times described, Sanders' near-tie with Clinton combined with Ted Cruz's Republican victory in the caucus demonstrated how the "2016 campaign has turned to easing the palpable frustrations of a large portion of white working-class Americans who believe that the country no longer works for them."https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/02/us/iowa-caucus-results.html Fury Shakes the Iowa Caucuses, Boosting Ted Cruz While Slowing Hillary Clinton Barbaro Michael February 2, 2016 The New York Times 0362-4331 February 2, 2017 According to entrance polls, Clinton won the white vote by a 49–46 margin against Sanders, with white voters comprising 91% of the Iowa electorate. She won non-white voters more resoundingly, 58–34. Sanders won among men, 50–44, but Clinton won women, 53-42. Sanders proved his immense strength with millennials by winning 17–29-year-olds 84-14, with Clinton winning senior citizens, 69–26. Clinton won among voters who had a high school diploma or less, and among those who had a postgraduate degree, while Sanders won voters with only a college degree. Sanders won 53-44 among voters who made an income of less than $50k per year, Clinton won more affluent voters 52-42. In terms of political party affiliation, Clinton won Democrats 56-39 but lost Independents to Bernie Sanders, 69–29.https://www.cnn.com/election/primaries/polls/ia/Dem 2016 Election Center – Presidential Primaries and Caucuses – 2016 Election Center – CNNPolitics.com CNN February 2, 2017 Upon learning she had been awarded the state of Iowa after 1 P.M. the following day, Clinton told CNN's Wolf Blitzer, "My luck was not that good last time around, and it was wonderful to win the caucus, to have that experience."https://www.cnn.com/2016/02/02/politics/new-hampshire-primary-2016/index.html Hillary Clinton wins Iowa caucuses Tami Luhby Nia-Malika Henderson February 3, 2016 CNN February 2, 2017 See also 2016 Iowa Republican presidential caucuses References 30em Iowa Democratic primary 2016