With the Iowa Caucus set to take place on Monday evening, many have started to wonder if results could be skewed due to the extreme winter weather currently rocking the state.
If weather predictions hold, Iowa is set to have the coldest caucus day on record, which may dismay some would-be voters from venturing out to cast their votes for presidential hopefuls.
The weather, which in some parts of the state could see snowfall and/or subzero temps, has forced candidates to cancel some of their last-minute events and even postponed former President Donald Trump’s arrival in the state until Saturday evening.
“Arctic air will continue to bring dangerously cold temperatures and wind chills today through Tuesday,” NWS Des Moines posted on X Saturday. “Wind chills are expected to fall to between -35F and -45F.”
After he arrived in Des Moines, Trump boasted that he was getting “a lot of tremendous support” but also remarked that the weather was getting “nasty out there.”
“Our people are more committed than anybody else, so maybe it’s actually a good thing for us,” Trump said.
The Hill spoke with Jeff Kaufmann, the chair of the Iowa Republican Party, about the weather, saying he expects some drop-off in caucus turnout from 2016. However, he did share that the fire was still there amongst the state’s Republicans.
“The atmosphere still feels passionate — especially when you’re inside not feeling the windchill,” Kaufmann said.
There are a reported 1,567 caucus sites across the state, and Kaufmann said because of this, turnout is still expected to be okay, being that “there are going to be thousands of Iowans with less than five miles to travel” to cast their votes.
Currently, Trump is leading amongst Republican hopefuls by almost 30%, according to an NBC News/Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa poll.
Following Trump are former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (20%), Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (16%), and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy (8%).