Iowa Republicans will hold 2024 caucuses on January 15

Iowa Republicans voted Saturday to hold their first-in-the-nation caucuses on January 15 next year, setting up the earliest start of the presidential nominating process since 2012, when caucusgoers gathered on January 3.

The State Central Committee of the Iowa GOP met Saturday and voted unanimously on the date.

Amid plans by Iowa Democrats to conduct their presidential preference vote by mail, following a disastrous 2020 caucus, Iowa GOP Chairman Jeff Kaufmann said in a statement that his party remained "committed to maintaining Iowa's cherished First-in-the-Nation Caucuses."

He also said the Iowa GOP is looking forward to "holding a historic caucus in the coming months and defeating Joe Biden come November 2024."

January 15 next year coincides with Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a federal and state holiday.

Kaufmann said at a virtual news conference Saturday that while the holiday wasn't the main reason the date was chosen, it comes with advantages, and the party, during the Saturday meeting, had addressed questions related to facility availability.

"If you look at what the other states in our carve-out system have done, January 15 was the earliest, most natural date in its progression," Kaufmann said. "In today's discussion, I think the fact that it is a federal holiday and I think the fact that as Republicans, we see this as honoring the legacy of Martin Luther King, in terms of having a caucus here, certainly both of those advantages were a part of our conversation."