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Election 2008 Ames Straw Poll - August 11th 2007
Held every election year without an incumbent the Iowa Straw Poll held in the town of Ames is seen as a test of strength for Republican candidates seeking the parties nomination. The poll is non-binding and takes place amongst attendees of a fundraising dinner benefiting the Iowa Republican Party. The vote takes place after each candidate is given a chance to make a short speech to the attendees.
Non-Republicans are allowed to vote in the Ames Straw Poll however all voters must be 18 years of age, be legal residents of the state of Iowa, and purchase a ticket to the fundraising dinner. Voters have their hands stamped when voting so that they cannot vote twice.
In essence the test of the Iowa Straw poll is to see which candidate can bring more people to Ames to vote for them. The better a candidate performs in the poll, the more likely they are seen as winning the Iowa Caucuses. There is some criticism of the event, mainly because to have voters attend candidates often pay for the cost of transportation, the ticket price for people to attend and spend money during the event to make them happy. This results in better funded candidates having a larger turnout. So far only half of those candidates who have won the Ames straw poll in the past have gone on to win the election. It has been a tradition however that some candidates who do poorly in the poll drop out within a few hours to a few weeks after the results.
Past problems with voting have included non-Iowa attendees from other states being bussed into the event to vote for candidates. This was resolved in 1999 when poll organizers began demanding Iowa ID from all those who vote. In the past voters had also been able to vote multiple times by simply going into the bathroom and washing off the hand stamp. This was also changed in 1999 when a wash-resistent stamp was used.
Past Straw Polls
1979
In 1979 George H.W. Bush won the Iowa straw poll & the Iowa caucus but was defeated in the primaries by Ronald Reagan who went on to win the 1980 Republican nomination & election. George H.W. Bush became Reagan's running mate.
1987
Because Ronald Reagan was an incumbent in 1983 the second straw poll was conducted in August 1987. The winner of the poll was Pat Buchanan, the winner of the Iowa caucus was Bob Dole. George H.W. Bush went on to win the Republican nomination & the presidency in the election of 1988.
1995
Because George H.W. Bush was an incumbent in 1991 the third straw poll was conducted on August 19th 1995. Bob Dole & Phil Gramm tied. Bob Dole went on to win the Iowa caucus and went on to received the parties nomination. He lost the 1996 election to Bill Clinton.
1999
In 1999 George W. Bush won the Iowa straw poll. Bush also went on to win the Iowa caucus, the parties nomination and the presidency in the 2000 election. 23,500 Iowans voted.
2007 Straw Poll
The 2007 straw poll took place with two of the most high profile candidates, Rudy Giuliani & John McCain, not taking part. Voting took place between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. Eastern. Only about 14,000 Iowans voted, about sixty percent of voters in 1999.
Difficulties with voting machines held up the release of vote totals. The Iowa GOP rented Diebold optical-scan voting machines and 1500 voters needed to be recounted by hand. A legal challenge had been filed on Thursday August 9th 2007 to force the Iowa party to use machines that provided a paper trail. A judge dismissed the lawsuit on Friday the 10th allowing the vote to go forward.
2007 Results
- 1. Mitt Romney won with 4516 votes. 31%
- 2. Gov. Mike Huckabee finished second with 2587. 18.1%
- 3. Sen. Sam Brownback with 2192 votes and 15.3%
- 4. Tom Tancredo with 1961 votes, 13.7%.
- 5. Ron Paul with 1305 votes, and 9.1%
- 6. Tommy Thompson, 1,009 votes, 7.3%
- 7. Fred Thomson with 231 votes.
- 8. Rudy Giuliani with 183 votes.
- 9. Duncan Hunter with 174 votes.
- 10. John McCain with 101 votes.
- 11. John Cox with 41 votes.
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