On Feb. 1, the world will watch the state of Iowa as it leads the nominating contest for the next U.S. president. Campaigns have been made or lost in the state.

By the data, Iowa is of small significance to the overall 2016 election. The state has just 3 million of the U.S.’s nearly 319 million residents, so it doesn’t have many votes in the Electoral College that will eventually elect a president from the parties’ nominees. In the presidential nominations, too, Iowa doesn’t mean much in terms of sheer numbers — for both the Republicans and the Democrats, the state makes up about 1 percent of delegates who later choose the nominees.

But, the state can mean everything because of the simple fact that its contest comes first. While a candidate doesn’t need to win Iowa to win its party’s nomination, results in Iowa are followed closely by the media and are an early signal of how the country as a whole will respond to the candidates. It also sets the state for the first primary, eight days later, in New Hampshire. In politics, momentum is king. If a candidate doesn’t place highly in the early states, support and dollars typically begin to dry up, which means that Iowa often is successful at winnowing the field. In a race with many candidates, like the 2016 contest for the Republicans, how a politician fares in Iowa can determine whether he or she will remain on the ballots for the rest of the U.S.

In light of Iowa’s pivotal role, here are answers to common questions about the Hawkeye State:



Why Is Iowa First?

By accident, the state captured the prime nominating spot in 1972 and has since kept it through stubborn determination. It’s even written into Iowa law. The Code of Iowa states that the caucus must be held “at least eight days earlier than the scheduled date for any meeting, caucus, or primary which constitutes the first determined stage of the presidential nominating process in any other state, territory, or any group which has the authority to select delegates in the presidential nomination.”

Iowa doesn't go first because it is more important than other states. Iowa goes first, essentially, because it says so. It doesn’t hurt that the caucus also brings in money to the state, although not as much as you might think.

Early nominating spots are coveted among the states because of the money that goes with them -- mostly in ad buys, media attention and candidate dedication to the early states. The presidential candidates have already made hundreds of trips to Iowa.

