The Iowa Caucus is now less than two weeks away. With a large field of candidates still in the race and high engagement in this year’s election, some organizers are concerned that they do not have the proper resources to handle the anticipated turnout. WGBH Morning Edition host Joe Mathieu spoke with Iowa Public Radio political reporter and co-host Kate Payne about how organizers are trying to accommodate voters. The transcript has been edited for clarity.
Joe Mathieu: Things appear to be just as confused as they were there the last time we spoke, with a four-way race, according to some in Iowa and of course, many more candidates than four. With so many viable candidates at this stage of the game, people are talking about turnout. You’ve been reporting this at IowaPublicRadio.org. I just read your piece, Kate. With a field this large, turnout could be huge.
Kate Payne: Yeah, that’s what we’re hearing from some of these organizers on the ground [and] some county officials — the idea that so many people are so engaged in this race. And part of that is because a lot of people are fired up to get President Trump out of office. But also, as so many campaigns have been in this state reaching out to folks for months, working on years for some of them, there are a lot of people who have been directly connected to these campaigns and reached out to and engaged.
So one of the things that some folks are anticipating, especially in the deep blue urban areas of the state, is that this record turnout actually could be something of a logistical issue, especially in places where I am — Johnson County, which is the most Democratic part of the state — because again, you’re having dozens, if not hundreds [or] even a thousand, people packing into community centers all at the same time on one night. Some of these rooms just aren’t built for that many people. And there are some concerns that it could be a real issue as far as getting these people in the door so that they can have their say.
Mathieu: So it sounds like it’s going to be a late night.
Payne: It could be. And it could be a cold one, too. February in Iowa — not known for our weather.
Mathieu: Well, that drives turnout for better or worse, of course. You’ve got fresh snow on the ground from last weekend, right?
Payne: Yeah, we do. Another nasty snow and ice storm that whipped through the state this weekend. Not good news for these field organizers and for campaigns that are trying to get out there and knock on doors and hoping to get people out to their events. I went to a Sen. Amy Klobuchar event this weekend, and she had come down for Minnesota in her big campaign bus and said they barely made it into Des Moines at about 2 a.m., and then turning around and doing the next event the next morning. So it can be legitimately dangerous for people out here. And that is a concern.
Mathieu: Well, don’t tell them, but we got some fresh snow in New Hampshire last weekend.
Last Friday was an important deadline, Kate. I was just reading at your website, Iowa Democrats had until Friday to pre-register. But you can still show up to caucus at the last minute, correct?
Payne: Absolutely. So that pre-registration is one of these steps that the Iowa Democrats were taking to try and smooth over that check-in process on caucus night with so many people interested in this race. But again, Iowans can show up on caucus night. They can change their party registration there at their precinct location. But again, you could see lines out the door of people waiting to do just that. So the party is really trying to get folks to do some of that work ahead of time.
Mathieu: Kate, the impeachment trial begins today. That’s been on the minds of the senators who will not be able to be in Iowa for at least the bulk of the next several weeks. Did you get a last-minute rush of all the sitting senators, including our own Sen. Elizabeth Warren?
Payne: Yes, absolutely. They were all trying to make the most of this past weekend in the state before having to be in D.C. again, sitting at trial for six days a week. When you talk to supporters and these candidates, it’s not ideal for those four U.S. senators to not be in Iowa in these last two weeks. But again, these campaigns have been working to establish their grassroots organizations for months, working on a year in the state. And so with them being away, the onus is on those field organizers [and] those surrogates to really try and pick up some of the slack.
