Iowa Republicans to meet to determine fate of straw poll

FILE - In this Aug. 11, 2007, file photo, presidential hopeful and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, second from left, plays with his band, Capital Offense, as an Elvis impersonator from Duncan Hunter's campaign helps out with a rendition of Johnny-Be-Good at the Iowa Straw Poll in Ames, Iowa. The leaders of the Iowa Republican Party are set to meet Jan. 10, 2015, in Iowa, to decide whether to hold the increasingly controversial Straw Poll. Many top Republicans, including Gov. Terry Branstad, oppose the event, decrying it as an expensive sideshow, but it appears the party is likely to keep it in place. (AP Photo/David Lienemann, File) FILE - In this Aug. 11, 2007, file photo, presidential hopeful and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, second from left, plays with his band, Capital Offense, as an Elvis impersonator from Duncan Hunter's campaign helps out with a rendition of Johnny-Be-Good at the Iowa Straw Poll in Ames, Iowa. The leaders of the Iowa Republican Party are set to meet Jan. 10, 2015, in Iowa, to decide whether to hold the increasingly controversial Straw Poll. Many top Republicans, including Gov. Terry Branstad, oppose the event, decrying it as an expensive sideshow, but it appears the party is likely to keep it in place. (AP Photo/David Lienemann, File)

By Associated Press January 10, 2015 2 min read

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Republicans in Iowa are meeting to decide whether to carry on this summer with their presidential straw poll, a summer political tradition that critics decry as a sideshow.

Despite criticism from some prominent Republicans, including influential Gov. Terry Branstad, the Republican Party of Iowa’s central committee appears likely to keep the event going when members meet Saturday morning in Des Moines to decide its fate.

Party Chairman Jeff Kaufmann said this week that he had “a hunch” committee members will vote to keep the poll.

First held in 1979, the straw poll has grown from a county GOP fundraiser stop to a large event on the Iowa State University campus, where candidates spend heavily to entertain supporters.

The poll has been a lackluster predictor of who will win the GOP nomination. Its winners in 1979 (George H.W. Bush), 1987 (Pat Robertson), 2007 (Mitt Romney) and 2011 (Michele Bachmann) did not win the nomination. Only twice – in 1995 (Bob Dole, who tied with Phil Gramm) and 1999 (George W. Bush) – did the straw poll winner go on to win the GOP nomination.