MOLINE, Ill. — We are four days away from the Iowa caucuses, and candidates are making their final push to solidify their support.
But when Iowans cast their vote on Monday, Jan. 15, the high temperatures are forecasted to be below zero, and Paul Baumgardner, a political science professor at Augustana College, says turnout will be important.
"The fact that we're going to be seeing very bad weather on caucus night, I think is only going to accentuate the worries over turnout," Baumgardner said. "Maybe we'll see a 15 to 20% decline, and it could skewer what we are expecting on caucus night."
Baumgardner says turnout for caucus can be low compared to primaries but doesn't believe any candidate on the ballot will especially benefit from the low count of voters.
"If there's a specific candidate or a set of candidates that have diehard supporters, maybe they will be willing to show up, even in the worst of weather," Baumgardner added. "Candidates like Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley are dumping a lot of money and doing their best at the very end to get that second-place finish and hopefully to ensure that they don't get blown out by Donald Trump."
The forecast for Monday has a high of -4 degrees Fahrenheit, which would be the coldest on record for a caucus night. Voting locations are spread all across Scott County, with most taking place in local schools. You can review the list of precincts here. If you need to look up your voting precinct to find out which caucus event you should attend, you can do so on the Iowa Secretary of State's website.
Watch more news, weather and sports on News 8's YouTube channel