Every four years, many Iowa snowbirds who winter in Florida have to decide: Stay in the sunshine or head back to the frozen tundra to help nominate a candidate for president?

In 2020, they may not have to choose.

The Democratic Party of Iowa is considering holding caucuses next February outside of the state, in places where Iowans congregate in large numbers. Florida, the part-time refuge for many winter-weary Midwesterners, will likely be in the mix to host at least one of these satellite caucuses.

Troy Price, the chairman of Iowa’s Democratic Party, confirmed it’s a possibility. If approved, it would be the first time Iowa held caucuses outside of the state.

"We’re working through a lot of details right now and I don’t want to speculate as to how this will play out,” Price said. “But, of course, we’re serious about this.”

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The party soon will begin accepting applications for remote locations to hold a caucus. A committee will decide if the proposed site makes sense. Their biggest test is determining whether there are a “significant” number of Iowa Democratic voters who would participate at that location.

Many of these sites will be in Iowa, in places where voters can’t access their precinct location, like a factory with a lot of employees who work night shifts or in group homes for people with disabilities.

But Price said he expects applications for satellite caucuses “where people winter, like Arizona, California, Texas and Florida, and places where there’s a high concentration of Iowans, like out-of-state college campuses or Chicago.”

The national party has tentatively approved the plan. Applications are due Nov. 18 and Iowa Democrats will release a list of satellite caucuses a month later. The caucuses are Feb. 3.

A spokeswoman for the Democratic Party of Florida said its leaders have not yet had conversations about helping with an Iowa caucus, but Price said they will reach out if the state is chosen to host one.

Unlike most states, Iowa does not hold a primary election to choose nominees for president. Instead, political parties hold caucuses — community meetings where people are sorted by who they support and their votes are counted by hand. There, they select delegates who will eventually vote on a nominee at the convention.

The Iowa caucuses, the first statewide nominating contest on the presidential primary calendar, carry special significance in American politics. Candidates camp out in the state for months, obligated to flip steaks and nosh on fair food and flout their connections to these salt-of-the-earth people. The campaigns hold small events with Iowans in school gymnasiums and gather in living rooms, hoping to win over endorsements with influential local party folks.

The caucuses themselves are a test of organizational strength for campaigns, often separating contenders from pretenders.

Typically held on a cold Monday in January or February, these caucuses are one night only. People can’t vote early or by mail, and if they can’t attend the lengthy caucus meetings because they are working or a single parent or out of state, they’re often out of luck.

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Because of this, critics of caucuses have said they aren’t inclusive and discourage participation from low-income, older and minority voters. About one-in-five eligible voters typically participate. The Democratic National Committee has tried to push states away from caucuses to traditional primaries.

Iowans have fought to maintain the caucuses, which they say encourage engagement between campaigns and voters and are great for party organizing. In recent years, the state Democratic Party has sought to appease concerns about exclusivity.

One suggested remedy, holding virtual caucuses online, was shut down earlier this month after the national Democratic Party successfully hacked a test run. The state party has since scrambled for alternatives and on Sept. 20 it settled on a satellite caucus system.

What’s unclear still is how many Iowans would participate in a Florida caucus if offered. Neither the Iowa Democratic Party or state tourism agency Visit Florida could say how many Iowans spend their winters in the Sunshine State.

But their presence is certainly noticeable around Tampa Bay and Fort Myers during the colder months of the year. There are more official University of Iowa bars in Florida than any other state outside of the Midwest, according to the university’s foundation. The Outback Bowl has hosted the Hawkeyes six times over the past three decades, including this past January, for which yellow and black fill the seats of Raymond James Stadium.

“I’m excited about anything that expands participation in our process,” Price said. “I think it’ll be new for us to get these people involved, but also show the resiliency of our process.”