1984 Iowa Democratic presidential caucuses

The 1984 Iowa Democratic presidential caucuses took place on February 20 in Iowa, as usual 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.

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.