The Iowa caucuses that we know today can be traced back to the late 1960s and early 1970s. Here are some of the upsets and most notable caucuses over the last five decades.
Iowa caucus 1972: After a push to change the traditional ways of the caucus system from Democrats who believed it was more controlled by “party bosses” as opposed to “responding to grassroots voices and desire,” according to Des Moines Register, Iowa became first in kicking off the election process during election season. Then Sen. George McGovern, a Democrat, came in third place with 23% votes, but gained media attention which helped him in the New Hampshire primary.
Iowa caucus 1976: Jimmy Carter also made it in the news and spent a lot of time in Iowa, which boosted his performance. He ended up gaining 28% of votes and went on to eventually become president.
Iowa caucus 1988: Then-Sen. Bob Dole won 37% of the votes, calling it “a rather clear-cut victory,” as reported by the Los Angeles Times. Televangelist Pat Robertson came in second place with 25%, and then Vice President George HW Bush came in third place with 19%. However, Bush eventually ended up becoming the nominee, winning the presidency.
Iowa caucus 2008: Then-Sen. Barack Obama, who eventually became the president, was up against then-Sen. Hillary Clinton. On the Republican side, former Arkansas governor and Baptist minister Mike Huckabee was up against Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and the late Sen. John McCain. Obama won 37.6% votes, Clinton came in third place winning 29.5%. Huckabee won 34.4% of votes from delegates, Romney came in second with 25.4% and McCain in last place with 13.2%.
Iowa caucus 2012: Romney was named as winner
of the caucus, beating former Senator Rick Santorum by 8 votes. Everything seemed to be smooth sailing after Romney won the New Hampshire primary, and would have been the first Republican to win both Iowa and New Hampshire in the nominating race. But just eight days after the primary, it was found out that Romney came in second place in the Iowa caucus and 16 days after the caucus it was made public that he had actually lost to Santorum by 34 votes.
This mishap affected the Republican Party in Iowa, forcing them to admit that there was a mistake in counting votes.