Huckabee skipping Iowa Straw Poll

Former Gov. Mike Huckabee (R-Ark.) will skip the Iowa Straw Poll in 2016, he confirmed in an op-ed for The Des Moines Register in which he questions the relevancy of the poll that helped spur his 2008 bid

“I have concluded this year’s Iowa straw poll will serve only to weaken conservative candidates and further empower the Washington ruling class and their hand-picked candidates,” he wrote.

“It’s clear that pitting conservative candidates with limited resources against each other in a non-binding and expensive summer straw poll battle, while allowing billionaire-backed establishment candidates to sit out, will only wound and weaken the conservative candidates who best represent conservative and hard-working Iowans.”

The former Arkansas governor had previously shown a hesitancy to participate in the straw poll, but the Register op-ed confirms his intentions. Huckabee relied on his second-place finish at the 2007 straw poll as part of the catalyst for his victory in the Iowa caucuses months later. But in his new editorial, Huckabee panned the contest as not typically indicative of caucus results.

He hasn’t always been a poll critic. In 2011, he bashed former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and then-Gov. Rick Perry (Texas) for not spending enough time in at the event in 2011.

“You shouldn’t just give a speech at $35,000 a plate [event] then leave. They’ve got to answer tough questions, and America needs Iowa to happen,” he said at the time, referring to the straw poll as an important way to value “retail politics.”

Huckabee is the second 2016 GOP candidate to opt out of the poll — former Gov. Jeb Bush (Fla.) won’t compete either.

There’s been increased scrutiny on the upcoming straw poll, as critics continue to question its relevance. The state GOP even considered ditching it, as Gov. Terry Branstad joined the crowd of critics, but the party voted to save the poll earlier this year.

Potential candidates have spent significant funds wooing voters and securing prime real estate at the poll, which has the trappings of both a fundraiser and a fair. The state party moved earlier this year to limit costs at the event by getting rid of the auction for campaign space at the site and no longer requiring candidates to bring food.