# 1984 Iowa Democratic presidential caucuses

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Caucuses in Iowa for the Democratic presidential nomination were held on February 20, marking the Democratic Party's first nominating contest in their series of presidential primaries ahead of the 1984 presidential election.
Walter Mondale won a plurality of the precinct caucus and received a majority of the state's delegates. John Glenn, who hoped to place second, performed poorly in sixth place while Gary Hart placed second.

## Procedure

Precinct caucuses were held on February 20, 1984, to select delegates who would attend county conventions on April 7. The county conventions would select delegates for district conventions on May 5, where 34 delegates would be selected from the state's six congressional districts. 24 delegates were selected at the state convention. 8 of the 58 delegates were uncommitted superdelegates. Candidates had to receive 15% of the vote at the precinct level to qualify for delegates.
The Democratic National Committee prohibited Iowa from holding its caucuses prior to February 27, 1984. However, on November 19, 1983, the Iowa Democratic State Committee voted 20 to 10 to move the caucuses to February 20, violating the order to be eight days before the New Hampshire primary, which was also in violation of the schedule.
Former state chair Edward Campbell, Jean Haugland, and Charles Gifford filed a lawsuit to delay the caucuses. They argued that the early date violated the national rules and would unconstitutionally risk their delegation. However, U.S. District Judge Donald E. O'Brien ruled on January 17, 1984, that he chose between the "two significant negative impacts" of delaying the caucuses or risking the seating of Iowa's delegation. The DNC chose to not penalize Iowa, which would have reduced its delegation size.

## Campaign

Bill Romjue, who managed Jimmy Carter's campaign for the 1980 caucuses, managed Hart's campaign in Iowa, but later quit. Hart's campaign was bolstered by his second place showing.
Maria Menne managed Reubin Askew's campaign. Askew set a goal of placing fourth. He attempted to appeal to anti-abortion and conservative voters to bolster his support. Iowan anti-abortion activists Carolyn Thompson and CeCe Zenti worked on his campaign.
John Law managed Alan Cranston's campaign. Cranston, a supporter of the Nuclear Freeze campaign, hoped to capitalize on The Day After and scheduled his paid media in Iowa to air during it. Cranston set a goal of placing third in order "to emerge as an alternative to Mondale and Glenn".
Joe Trippi managed Mondale's campaign. Judy Wilson, the chair of the Polk County Democratic Party, managed McGovern's campaign. McGovern spent $50,000 in Iowa. Fritz Hollings and Jesse Jackson did not campaign in Iowa.

### Debates and forums

Four candidates attended a debate hosted by the Brown and Black Coalition in Des Moines on January 10. Eight candidates participated in a debate hosted by The Des Moines Register in Des Moines on February 11. 593,000 people watched the debate and polling showed Mondale and McGovern performed the best.
Six candidates attended a forum hosted by the Iowa Farm Unity Coalition and Rural America at Iowa State University in Ames on January 21. Cranston, Hart, and McGovern participated in a forum hosted by the Dubuque County Democratic Party on January 29.

### Reactions and aftermath

Jerry Vento managed John Glenn's campaign in Iowa before replacing William White as Glenn's national campaign manager. Vento predicted that Glenn would place second with 15-20% of the vote. Glenn stated that "We got whipped" after his poor showing in the caucus.
David R. Nagle, chair of the Iowa Democratic Party, criticized television networks for declaring Mondale the winner before the results were reported at 8:30 PM. Mondale was projected as the winner by CBS News at 8:12 PM and NBC at 8:18 PM. Nagle, Charles Manatt, and Tim Wirth claimed that the early projections influenced the results.
Hart's campaign was bolstered by his second placing show. Hart, despite not winning Iowa, was now viewed as the only viable opponent to Mondale. Polling in New Hampshire initially showed Mondale defeating Hart, but Hart won the primary. Hart was polling below 10% nationally in late February, but was polling above 30% by March 2, and near 40% by March 6.

## Polling

| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | Reubin Askew | Alan Cranston | John Glenn | Gary Hart | Fritz Hollings | Jesse Jackson | George McGovern | Walter Mondale | Others | Undecided |
| The Des Moines Register | November 28–December 6, 1983 | 296 Democrats | ±6% | 1% | 9% | 20% | 3% | – | 3% | 5% | 43% | 1% | 15% |
| The Des Moines Register | November 28–December 6, 1983 | 118 LV | ±7% | – | 12% | 16% | 3% | – | 3% | 8% | 42% | 2% | 14% |
| The Des Moines Register | December 27, 1983 – January 10, 1984 | 299 Democrats | ±6% | – | 6% | 20% | 4% | – | 3% | 6% | 49% | 1% | 11% |
| The Des Moines Register | December 27, 1983 – January 10, 1984 | 108 LV | ±10% | 1% | 6% | 21% | 6% | – | 4% | 6% | 45% | 1% | 10% |
| The Des Moines Register | February 12–16, 1984 | 66 LV | ±12% | – | 17% | 11% | 14% | – | 4% | 7% | 44% | – | 3% |

## Results

Projections based on the initial precinct results gave Mondale 48 of the 50 committed delegates.
The 13,500 delegates selected at the caucuses voted for 3,201 delegates at the county conventions. 1,654 delegates were for Mondale, 949 for Hart, 248 for McGovern, 36 for Jackson, and 314 were uncommitted.
The delegates to the district conventions selected 20 delegates for Mondale, 13 for Hart, and 1 for McGovern despite him having dropped out. Jackson delegates to the 1st district convention staged a walkout after failing to elect a delegate to the state convention. Jackson delegates to the 3rd district convention claimed that five of their ballots were destroyed.
3,201 delegates were eligible to attend the state convention, but only 2,400 participated. Of the delegates present 1,358 were for Mondale, 698 for Hart, 160 for McGovern, 68 for Jackson, 1 for Cranston, and 156 were uncommitted. The state convention selected 15 delegates for Mondale, 7 for Hart, and 2 were uncommitted. A deal was reached between the Hart campaign and the remaining Jackson, McGovern, and uncommitted delegates in which they would support Hart, giving him another delegate, in exchange for Hart giving McGovern one of his at-large delegates. This was done to prevent Mondale from gaining another delegate.
Berkley Bedell, Minnette Doderer, Tom Harkin, Barbara Leach, Tom Miller, Nagle, and Neal Smith served as superdelegates. Six supported Mondale, one supported Hart, and one was uncommitted. Smith was the chair of the delegation to the national convention.
1984 Iowa Democratic presidential caucuses :
| Candidate | Preference vote | Precinct caucuses | County conventions | District convention delegates | State convention delegates | Total delegates |
| Walter Mondale | 27,896 (44.54%) | 1,444.8 (48.9%) | 1,654 | 20 | 15 | 35 |
| Gary Hart | 9,286 (14.83%) | 486.3 (16.5%) | 949 | 13 | 7 | 20 |
| George McGovern | 7,896 (12.61%) | 303.1 (10.3%) | 248 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Uncommitted | 4,701 (7.51%) | 277.4 (9.4%) | 314 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Alan Cranston | 5,617 (8.97%) | 219.5 (7.4%) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| John Glenn | 3,310 (3.33) | 102.2 (3.5%) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Reubin Askew | 2,084 | 73.7 (2.5%) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jesse Jackson | 1,670 (2.67%) | 45.2 (1.5%) | 36 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Fritz Hollings | 165 (0.26%) | 1.4 (0.0%) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 62,625 | 100% | 3,201 | 34 | 24 | 58 |

### Delegates

Iowa delegates to the 1984 Democratic National Convention :
| 1st district | 2nd district | 3rd district | 4th district | 5th district | 6th district | Mondale state delegates | Hart state delegates | McGovern state delegates | Superdelegates |
| Gerald Messer | Connie Clark | James Kacher | Angelyn King | Rod Halvorson | Betty Strong | Lowell Junkins | Karen Merrick | Bryant Hulstrom | Neal Smith |
| Patsy Ramacitti | Lloyd Frellinger | Tom Long | Sydney Howe | Sylvia Wilensky | Delbert Laird | Charles Gifford | Steve Lynch | | Tom Harkin |
| Carol Carter | Robert Rundi | Beverly Full | James Wengert | Kim Moll | Virginia Tornell | Phil Kraft | Janice Lyle | | Berkley Bedell |
| Philip Wise | Bridget Janus | Sheila McGuire | Dorothy Woods | Dixon Terry | Dean Loss | Betty Talkington | Kathy Maudsley | | Tom Miller |
| Rizwana Amjed | Rick Dickison | Jeffrey Winick | Fred Strickland Jr. | Louise Tinley | Barbara Hartie | Joy Lowe | Jean Pardee | | Minnette Doderer |
| Patrick McCabe | | Arturo Sierra | Jean Dougherty | | | Russ Woodrick | Nancy Walker | | Barbara Leach |
| | | | James Carnahan | | | Larry Hamilton | | | David R. Nagle |
| | | | | | | Raynae Lagunus | | |
| | | | | | | Cecelia McGuire | | | |
| | | | | | | Ethelene Boyd Owens | | |

## Endorsements

Party officials
* Joseph Tilley, chair of the Greene County Democratic Party
Party officials
* David Manley, chair of the Cerro Gordo County Democratic Party
Local officials
* Tom Tully, mayor of Dubuque, Iowa (1978)
Party officials
* Lee Campbell, chair of the Union County Democratic Party
* Pat Gilroy, chair of the Johnson County Democratic Party
* Frank Rasmussen, chair of the Scott County Democratic Party
* Billy Snook, chair of the Wayne County Democratic Party
Local officials
* Roger Watson, member of the Mason, Iowa city council
Party officials
* David Manley, chair of the Cerro Gordo County Democratic Party (switched endorsement to Alan Cranston)
Party officials
* Stan Kading, co-chair of the Adair County Democratic Party
* Judy Wilson, chair of the Polk County Democratic Party
Federal officials
* Tom Harkin, member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Iowa's 5th congressional district (1975–1985)
State officials
* Donald Avenson, Speaker of the Iowa House of Representatives (1983–1990)
* Lowell Junkins, Majority Leader of the Iowa Senate
* Tom Miller, 31st and 33rd Attorney General of Iowa (1979–1991; 1995–2023)
Party officials
* Edward Campbell, former chair of the Iowa Democratic Party
* Betty Strong, chair of the Woodbury County Democratic Party