The Republican primary was held on June 3, 2014. If no candidate won more than 35% of the vote, the nominee would have been chosen at a statewide convention. It would have been only the second time in 50 years that a convention picked a nominee and the first time since 2002, when then-State Senator
Steve King won a convention held in
Iowa's 5th congressional district to decide the Republican nominee for Congress. Having the nominee chosen by a convention led to fears that the increasingly powerful
Ron Paul faction of the state party, led by Party Chairman
A. J. Spiker, could have nominated an unelectable candidate. The convention was scheduled to be held on June 14 but was then moved to July 12. Republican leaders, including
Governor Terry Branstad and U.S. Senator
Chuck Grassley, as well as four of the candidates for the nomination, criticized the move. Candidates Sam Clovis,
Joni Ernst,
Matthew Whitaker and David Young signed a letter to the
Republican Party of Iowa asking them to move the convention date back, saying that "Essentially gifting Bruce Braley|[Bruce] Braley an additional 30 days to campaign in a vacuum, while reducing our nominee's time to raise funds and campaign as the general election candidate by an entire month – only serves to strengthen Braley's viability". Spiker responded that the move was necessary to accommodate the 27-day period that the
Iowa Secretary of State's office requires to certify the results of the primary. Spiker reiterated his position in September 2013, rejecting calls for a vote by the central committee to move the convention date. He said that nominating a candidate before the primary had been certified would break state law, "which outlines that a ballot vacancy does not exist until the canvass is completed and certified." Secretary of State
Matt Schultz was highly critical of Spiker, saying that "no political party should use the excuse of the final date of the statewide canvass to determine the date of its special nominating convention. Furthermore, to state that it is necessary to hold a special nominating convention after the conclusion of the state canvass is not only misleading, it is false." Following efforts by members of the central committee to call a special meeting to move the date back to June, Spiker agreed and a meeting was held on September 23. The central committee voted 16–1 to move the convention date back to June 14. Statewide Republican leaders and activists and members of the
National Republican Senatorial Committee believe that the real reason for the attempt to delay the convention was to give the Ron Paul faction time to organize an insurgent effort to push through a candidate they support, which could have even been Spiker himself or State Party Co-chair David Fischer. Many found the ad to be humorous and it was spoofed by late-night comedians including
Jimmy Fallon and
Stephen Colbert, while some found it to be in bad taste. Before the ad aired, Ernst had struggled in fundraising, and two polls of the Republican primary taken in February 2014 had shown her in second place, several points behind opponent Mark Jacobs. After it aired, a
Suffolk University poll in early April showed her with a narrow lead and a
Loras College poll showed her essentially tied with Jacobs. By May, she was being described by the media as the "strong front-runner". In May 2014,
Roll Call reported that the Republican primary campaign had become a proxy for the
2016 Republican presidential nomination, with
Mitt Romney and
Marco Rubio supporting Ernst,
Rick Perry endorsing Whitaker and
Rick Santorum backing Clovis. Jacobs, who had no such high-profile endorsements, ran as the "outsider". Ultimately, Ernst won the primary with 56% of the vote, negating the need for a convention.
Candidates Declared •
Sam Clovis, radio host •
Joni Ernst, state senator • Mark Jacobs, former CEO of Reliant Energy • Scott Schaben, businessman •
Matthew Whitaker, former
U.S. Attorney for the
Southern District of Iowa and nominee for Treasurer of Iowa in 2002
Withdrew • Paul Lunde, attorney and nominee for
Iowa's 4th congressional district in
1988 and
1992 •
David Young, former Chief of Staff to U.S. Senator
Chuck Grassley (ran for U.S. House) Declined •
Terry Branstad,
Governor of Iowa • Bob Brownell,
Polk County Supervisor •
Steve Deace, radio talk show host •
Bill Dix, Minority Leader of the
Iowa Senate • David Fischer, Co-chair of the
Republican Party of Iowa • Steve Gaer, Mayor of
West Des Moines • Drew Ivers, Finance Chairman of the
Republican Party of Iowa •
Steve King, U.S. Representative from • Ron Langston, businessman and former director of the
Minority Business Development Agency •
Bill Northey,
Iowa Secretary of Agriculture • Kevin O'Brien,
McDonald's store owner and operator •
Rod Roberts, Director of the Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals and candidate for
governor in
2010 •
Matt Schultz,
Iowa Secretary of State •
A. J. Spiker, Chairman of the
Republican Party of Iowa •
Matt Strawn, former chairman of the
Republican Party of Iowa •
David A. Vaudt, chairman of the
Governmental Accounting Standards Board and former state auditor of Iowa
Endorsements Polling • ^ Internal poll for Joni Ernst campaign • * Internal poll for Mark Jacobs campaign
Results == General election ==