DES MOINES, Iowa — The Iowa Republican Party is in turmoil 15 months into the tenure of chairman A.J. Spiker, and his critics worry the discord could forever mar the politically significant state’s longstanding tradition of holding the nation's first presidential-nominating contest.

At issue: Tensions with the state’s old-guard Republican leadership and Spiker’s affiliation with the group of activists tied to former Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas.

Spiker jokes that party bosses at the Republican National Committee rarely bother to learn the names of state party chairmen due to their relatively short tenures.

"They always joke that state chairs, they never bother learning their names, because they're gone so quickly," he said, noting that the average chairmanship for leaders of state Republican parties lasts about 18 months.

But Iowa is no typical state. It is the state that plays host every four years to the first presidential-nominating contest — its tradition-laden caucus — that can boost or break presidential hopefuls' chances of ever reaching the White House.

And though the 2016 Iowa caucuses are still years away, Spiker's chairmanship has divided the Hawkeye State's Republicans. They fret that party-building exercises like fundraising and infrastructure have ground to a halt. And more alarmingly, Republicans worry that Spiker and the rest of the state GOP, which has close ties to Ron Paul's political movement, would become an informal extension of Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul's presidential campaign should he decide to seek higher office in 2016.

Matthew Holst / Matthew Holst / AP

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., speaks at the Iowa GOP Lincoln Dinner event, Friday, May 10, 2013, at the Hotel at Kirkwood Center, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

"We're a long way's out from another presidential caucus, but even still, people are concerned: is it a fair playing field for the next set of candidates?" said Craig Robinson, a former political director for the Iowa GOP and a prominent critic of Spiker's chairmanship.

"They're looking at what's best for themselves and the candidates they support," he added. "If they're not careful, they could damage the institution of the caucuses after 2016."

Spiker responded: "I think the notion that it's just about Rand or Ron is really kind of silly."

Spiker was elected — he calls himself the "first non-establishment chairman" — following the resignation of Matt Strawn, who stepped down as chairman of the Iowa GOP following hiccups in the caucuses. The party had initially proclaimed Mitt Romney its winner, but was forced to reverse itself once the final tally found that former Sen. Rick Santorum had actually won by a handful of votes.

Spiker won the chairmanship of the state GOP due to persistent efforts by Ron Paul supporters to win smaller, less-noticed elections to local and lesser statewide Republican offices. By the time had come to elect a replacement for Strawn, Ron Paul acolytes had the numbers.

During his tenure, he has openly challenged Gov. Terry Branstad, who is on the cusp of seeking his sixth term as governor since 1982, over the fate of the Ames Straw Poll (an informal precursor to the caucuses) and a new gas tax that had pended before the state legislature.

"I'm not going to comment on that," Branstad pointedly told NBC News when asked about his assessment of the state GOP's health. "I just think, I'm focused on helping Republicans win elections, and we're going to put together the strongest team possible. And by the time we get to Election Day 2014, we'll see a very strong, united party that will work together."

Indeed, Election Day 2014 includes two marquee statewide races: Branstad's would-be re-election, and more significantly, an open Senate race that offers Republicans their first chance of holding both Senate seats for the first time in decades.

"The current party leadership has some bridges to build," said a GOP strategist and former Iowa party official, who requested anonymity to offer candid assessments about the party. "Sometimes they misunderstand the core function of the party, which is to win elections and provide an effective infrastructure. This is what candidates need and donors expect."

Criticism of Spiker has assumed a new urgency given the intense and early interest in the 2016 caucuses, jockeying for which began on Friday night when Rand Paul — at Spiker's invitation — headlined the party's annual Lincoln Dinner fundraiser.

Of Rand Paul's appeal in Iowa, Spiker said: "I think it would be a mistake not to put him in the top tier in Iowa, and I would be surprised if he didn't poll that way." (He also named Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie as two additional major contenders.)

Behind the scenes, Republican critics of Spiker's have asserted that a backlash against this self-described "constitutionalist" chairman is taking shape. As with many battles on the national level, the establishment GOP community and its donor class have begun the work of reclaiming the levers of power in the state GOP.

"If this Paul takeover of the party has done one thing, it has kind of awoken your traditional Republican activist," Robinson said.

For his part, Spiker says that he's leaning against seeking another term as state party chairman in January of 2015; he explained that he had also leaned against seeking the office in the first place, and seeking re-election to a full term this past January.

Spiker, who has a young family, mused that it might actually be more liberating for him to work for an issue group come 2016. Or a candidate.

"The candidate and issue things are much easier, because with a candidate you have a specific candidate, and you have specific policies of the candidate," he said. "You have very clear things. With the political committee, it's much broader, much bigger and it is a lot more complicated than it is with a candidate or an issue group."

This story was originally published on Mon May 13, 2013 3:29 PM EDT

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — Presidential elections start in Iowa. 

On Friday, Sen. Rand Paul put his stake in the ground for a possible run in 2016 by mocking the Obama administration and delivering a blistering critique of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's handling of the terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya, that killed four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens. The administration has been criticized for failing to provide security during the attack and for its characterization of the incident afterward.

Speaking at the Iowa GOP’s annual Lincoln Dinner, Paul questioned the initial response to the attacks and asked, "First question to Hillary Clinton: Where in the hell were the Marines?"

Matthew Holst / AP

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., has his photo taken with Linda Stikle of Anamosa, Iowa, after he spoke at the Iowa GOP Lincoln Dinner on Friday in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

"It was inexcusable, it was a dereliction of duty, and it should preclude her from holding higher office," the Kentucky Republican added to loud applause.

Republicans' search for a candidate to deliver their first victory in a presidential election since 2004 began as Paul used the plum speaking slot to plant the seeds for his own possible bid. And he won his biggest applause by taking on Clinton, who's seen as the early front-runner for the Democratic nomination to succeed President Barack Obama.

Paul was just elected to the Senate in 2010 and is perhaps best known as the son of the former Texas Congressman Ron Paul, whose two campaigns for president attracted a fervent, grassroots following that might translate to his son.

But the Kentucky senator has been far from shy about stoking speculation about his own play for the Republican nomination in 2016. He told reporters earlier Friday that he had not made up his mind and would not decide until 2014.

The fundraiser on Friday had unmistakable overtones of a presidential campaign, though the last one ended just six months ago. Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, captured that sentiment best in his speech preceding Paul's: "The process of selecting the next leader of the free world begins in Iowa, and it's already begun."

Paul's speech doubled at times as a comedy scene, as he seemed at ease before the crowd, stepping away from the podium, microphone in hand, to project a casual demeanor. He rattled off jokes about absurd pork-barrel projects, recalling the campaign style of Arizona Sen. John McCain as he ran for president in 2008.

But Paul also used his closely watched speech to offer his own prescriptions about the path forward for the Republican Party, which has been suffering from somewhat of an identity crisis since Mitt Romney lost to Obama in last fall's election.

On no issue is that crisis more clear than immigration. A bipartisan bill has advanced in the Senate to allow undocumented immigrants a pathway to citizenship, but King and Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, both railed against the proposal in their speeches before Paul's.

Paul has spoken in favor of some kind of immigration reform, a dicey topic before this Republican crowd, and he acknowledged those disagreements. But he also tried to align himself with King and Grassley — two of the most stalwart opponents of immigration reform.

"I'm also with Sen. Grassley and Congressman King on the fact that I think we were hoodwinked in 1968," he said, referencing the last time Congress passed a major immigration overhaul. "We were promised security, and it never came."

But Paul also said there's a "chance [he] could vote for the bill" if he can add amendments strengthening its border security measures.

Paul also spoke about broadening the party's appeal, namely to Latinos, African Americans and young voters.

"We're an increasingly diverse nation, and I think we do need to reach out to other people that aren't like us, don't look like us, don't wear the same clothes, that aren't exactly who we are," he said. "We're going to have to do something."

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DES MOINES, Iowa — Though only six months have elapsed since the last presidential election, Iowa's Republican governor is encouraging GOP White House hopefuls to begin taking trips to the Hawkeye State.

Gov. Terry Branstad, a Republican who's been elected to five terms as governor since 1982, told NBC News on Thursday that he was far from troubled by the fellow Republicans who have already started making their way to Iowa in hopes of sewing the seeds of victory in the state's influential, first-in-the-nation nominating contest in 2016.

"I've always had out the welcome mat. We certainly want all candidates that have an interest," Branstad said in an interview in his formal gubernatorial office inside the Iowa State Capitol. "Iowa's kind of a grassroots state. I want to encourage them to come early and often."

It appears as though the governor is already getting his wish. Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul will make a highly-anticipated speech on Friday at the Iowa GOP's annual Lincoln Dinner, an event that will let him court some of the party's most influential activists and donors. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is scheduled to travel to Iowa later this month, and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum (who narrowly won the Iowa caucus in 2012) was set to return to the state earlier this month before he was sidelined by an illness.

Though Iowa voters just weathered the deluge of candidates associated with a presidential election year — and much can change before 2016, let alone the 2014 midterm elections — the process of selecting candidates to succeed President Barack Obama has already begun.

Branstad name-checked a variety of Republicans whom he suggested could contend for the party's nomination in 2016: Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former vice presidential nominee and Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, and, of course, Paul and Walker.

"We've got a strong bench," said Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds, whom some Republicans had unsuccessfully wooed to seek the state's open Senate seat in 2014. "They're young and it's diversified, and I think that's exciting. And I think we're going to have a lot of great candidates to choose from."

And while there is no clear favorite heading into the still-very-distant caucuses of 2016, what is clear is that some elements of the nominating process will change by then. Branstad, for instance, has called for eliminating the Ames Straw Poll, a gathering at which Republican activists vote for their early favorite candidates months before of the caucuses.

But the winning candidate — Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann bested the field last time — has struggled to eventually win the nomination in recent cycles.

"In its day, the straw poll was a big celebration and big picnic and whatever, but it's gotten to the point now where a lot of top-tier candidates decide to pass it up," Branstad said. "So it isn't that meaningful, in terms of a test."

The governor also dismissed any suggestion that Iowa might move away from its traditional caucus system in light of a Republican National Committee report earlier this year discouraging caucuses and conventions as nominating processes. Those formats, rather than a traditional balloted primary, sometimes gives impassioned activists more of an ability to sway the outcome.

"I don't think that we could go to a primary without being in a conflict situation with New Hampshire," Branstad said. "And we've always had a wonderful understanding and agreement with New Hampshire that we would have the first caucus, and they would have the first primary. I think that system has worked well, and I'd like to see us keep it."

Mary Altaffer / AP

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, right, and running mate Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., made one final stop in Cleveland on Election Day, but to no avail. President Barack Obama held Ohio and won re-election, according to NBC projections.

In the final week of the long presidential election campaign, Republican candidate Mitt Romney lavished advertising time and personal visits on three Midwestern states: Ohio, Wisconsin and Iowa.

He fell short in all three states Tuesday, a failure that scuttled his chances of winning the White House.

In Ohio, where Obama held a narrow two-point margin, almost two of five voters said someone in their household had been laid off in the past four years. Yet Romney could do no better than manage a split with Obama among those voters, according to NBC exit poll data.

Only three out of 10 Ohio voters said their family’s financial situation was worse than it was four years ago. Romney won those voters by better than a 5-to-1 margin, but there weren’t enough of them for him to carry the state.

And Obama was boosted in the state by the 24-point advantage he enjoyed among labor union households, about a fifth of the Ohio electorate. The two rivals split the non-union vote almost evenly, with Romney winning 50 percent and Obama 48 percent.

Obama also benefited from his role in the bailout of the auto industry, a decision that had been sharply questioned by Romney.

Based on exit polls, three out of five Ohio voters approved federal aid to the automakers. Those who approved of the bailout voted for Obama by a 3-to-1 margin.

Even as Romney was losing the state, 10 House Republican incumbents in Ohio were headed for re-election, so the outcome in the state didn’t reflect a broad anti-Republican backlash but more specific factors that doomed Romney.

Likewise in Iowa Romney lost even as two House GOP incumbents -- Reps. Steve King and Tom Latham -- won expensive, hotly contested races.

In Iowa the gender gap worked even more dramatically to Romney’s disadvantage than elsewhere, with nearly 60 percent of Iowa’s women voters rejecting Romney – compared with 55 percent in the national exit poll sample. Romney was also hurt in Iowa by the perception that his policies would favor the rich – an idea that 54 percent of Iowa voters agreed with. Among that group, Obama won by better than 7 to 1.

Finally in Wisconsin, Romney fell short, even with native son Rep. Paul Ryan on the ticket.  Romney had good reason to hope Wisconsin would flip into the GOP column, especially after Republican Gov. Scott Walker was elected in 2010, battled successfully to curb the power of public sector labor unions, and then triumphed in a recall election last year.

But Romney won a favorability rating of only 46 percent in Wisconsin, lagging Walker’s by 10 points.

Union households accounted for about a fifth of the Wisconsin electorate and Obama won their vote by about 2-to-1, based on exit polls. The candidates split the non-union vote in Wisconsin.

And as in Ohio the Wisconsin voters who favored the federal bailout of GM and Chrysler backed Obama over Romney, 79 to 20 percent.

More election coverage from NBCNews.com:

• Obama wins re-election; Ohio, Iowa, Wisconsin prove pivotal
• Democrats gain in Senate with wins in four states
• Rape remarks sink two Republican Senate hopefuls
• In costliest-ever Senate race, Warren beats Brown for Mass. seat
• Maine's Harley-riding King vowed to 'shake up' D.C.
• Republicans to maintain control of House, NBC News projects
• Colorado, Washington approve recreational marijuana use
• In 11 governor races, it's about jobs and taxes
• Majority of voters see American on wrong track

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CHICAGO -- President Barack Obama will announce on Monday that the Department of Agriculture intends to buy up to $170 million of pork, lamb, chicken and catfish to help support farmers suffering from the drought, a White House official said.

The food purchases will go toward "food nutrition assistance" programs, like food banks. 

During a visit to Iowa, a political swing state that the Democrat hopes to win in the Nov. 6 election, Obama will press Congress to pass a farm bill with short-term relief measures for the ranchers and farmers hurt by the drought. 

The president will also direct the Department of Defense to "encourage" its vendors to speed up purchases of lamb, pork and beef and freeze it for later use. 

"This is a win-win. Farmers and ranchers will have an opportunity to sell more of their products at this critical time and taxpayers will get a better price on food that would have been purchased later," the official said. 

"The president has directed his administration to continue exploring every possible avenue to provide relief to communities struggling with this historic natural disaster." 

Obama will tour an Iowa farm to view the effects of the drought. The state is one of a handful of political swing states, including Ohio, Florida, and Colorado, that could hold the key to victory in his race with Republican Mitt Romney for the White House.

Paul Ryan welcomed home with massive rally in Wisconsin

Last week the governors of two poultry-growing states, Maryland and Delaware, asked the Obama administration for relief from the requirement to use corn ethanol in gasoline, saying corn is needed to feed livestock. 

After weeks of controversy following the Jan. 3 Iowa caucuses, Matt Strawn, the chairman of the Iowa Republican Party, today said he will step down from his role with the party at the end of next week.
 
Strawn, who has served as the GOP chairman in the first-in-the-nation caucus state since 2009, announced his resignation in a statement. “It is only because the Iowa GOP has returned as a strong and relevant voice in Iowa politics that I am now able to evaluate all the competing priorities in my personal, business and political life."

He added, "The party is strong and has the resources in place for victory in November. Now is the time to transition to new leadership."
 
Strawn's resignation is effective Friday, Feb. 10.

Mitt Romney was declared the winner of the caucus by a mere eight votes during the wee hours of the morning on caucus night. After the certified results came in nearly two weeks later, Rick Santorum pulled ahead of Romney by 34 votes.

The Iowa GOP was also never able to account for all 1,774 precincts –- 8 precinct votes could not be tabulated because the Form Es were not collected.
 
On Jan. 19, the Iowa GOP sent out a press release congratulating both Santorum and Romney on their performance in Iowa, but did not declare a winner despite Santorum being ahead by 34 votes.
 
The Santorum campaign and supporters were unhappy with the lack of official word declaring their candidate the winner.
 
Later that day, however, Strawn went on an Iowa radio station and began to change his tone on the subject -- and leaned towards saying Santorum was the winner.
 
This switch brought additional criticisms of the chairman as well –- and confusion nationally as to who was the true winner in Iowa.
 
The Iowa GOP was forced to send a press release on Jan. 20 stating: "In order to clarify conflicting reports and to affirm the results released Jan. 18 by the Republican Party of Iowa, Chairman Matthew Strawn and the State Central Committee declared Senator Rick Santorum the winner of the 2012 Iowa Caucus."
 
But many in Iowa are sad to see Strawn step down.
 
"For three years, Matt's focus on fundraising and voter registration was unparalleled. Because of him, the Iowa GOP is better prepared to go in to the 2012 elections,” State Central Committee member Tim Moran told NBC News. "I wish him well as he prepares for the next stage of his life"
 
The Governor of Iowa also thanked the Chairman for his dedication to the state.
 
“I want to thank Matt Strawn for his three years of leadership at the Republican Party of Iowa. Matt took over at a time when the party was in desperate shape, and rebuilt it precinct-by-precinct, putting it in the strongest position in years,” Gov. Terry Branstad said in a written statement. “Matt’s leadership will be missed, but I am confident a smooth transition will take place at the Republican Party of Iowa and we will continue our party’s successes this November.”
 
The State Central Committee will be tasked with electing Strawn’s replacement. The next quarterly meeting is scheduled for Feb. 11.

Evan Vucci / AP

Tea party supporter William Temple, of Brunswick, Ga., sits in the Des Moines Airport heading home after the Iowa caucus, Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2012.

Matthew Cavanaugh / Getty Images

Globe Manufacturing Company employees Shirley Smith, left, and Pat Dexter listen as Republican presidential candidate and former Utah Governor, Jon Huntsman Jr., speaks on Jan. 04, 2012 in Pittsfield, New Hampshire. Huntsman continues to campaign hard in the nation's first primary state. Globe makes equipment for firefighters and other emergency workers.

With the Iowa caucus over, the candidates and their supporters head to New Hampshire for the next contest which will take place Jan. 10. Jon Huntsman skipped Iowa and concentrated on New Hampshire and Michele Bachmann dropped out of the race after a poor showing in Iowa. More news from NBC politics.

Mitt Romney on Wednesday accepted an endorsement from Arizona Sen. John McCain, the 2008 Republican presidential nominee, as he pushed for an overwhelming victory in next week's New Hampshire primary.

Romney flew in from Iowa in the morning after his narrow caucus win, and McCain joined him onstage — putting the Vietnam veteran back in front of audiences that handed him two primary victories here.

McCain, who is still hugely popular in the state, said his endorsement was intended to help Romney "get an overwhelming vote that will catapult this candidate to the White House."

Romney was governor of neighboring Massachusetts and holds a strong lead in polls in New Hampshire. With a precarious 8-vote win behind him, Romney is looking to voters here to hand him a victory that will make his eventual nomination seem all but inevitable.

Romney faces conservative challenges from former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, who barely lost in Iowa, and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who has already started running newspaper ads declaring Romney too moderate.

McCain is particularly popular with the independents who can vote in the state's Republican primary. His endorsement could help Romney win over those voters and increase his overall support.

McCain and Romney haven't always been political allies. McCain beat Romney in the 2008 New Hampshire primary, and there is a history of acrimony between the two. But Romney eventually endorsed McCain in 2008.

Jonathan Gibby / Getty Images

Bob DiGregorio, a supporter of Republican presidential candidate, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, leaves a caucus training session held at the Sheraton on Jan. 3, 2012 in West Des Moines, Iowa. After months of campaigning by candidates, Iowan voters throughout the state prepare to participate in the first caucus of the 2012 presidential election.

Rick Wilking / Reuters

Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum is surrounded by the media after a campaign stop in Des Moines, Iowa on Jan. 3, 2012, the day of the Iowa caucus.

Jim Lo Scalzo / EPA

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, flanked by staff members, greets Iowa voters at a campaign event at the Temple for Performing Arts in Des Moines, Iowa, on Jan. 3, 2012.

Joshua Lott / Reuters

Republican presidential candidate and U.S. Representative Michele Bachmann stands with her daughter, Caroline Bachmann, and Iowa's 5th congressional district U.S. Representative Steve King during a news conference in West Des Moines, Iowa, on Jan. 3, 2012.

Jeff Haynes / Reuters

A Newt Gingrich supporter holds two postcards of Gingrich while listening to him speak at Elly's Tea and Coffee in Muscatine, Iowa, on Jan. 3, 2012.

Joshua Lott / Reuters

Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul greets supporters during a campaign stop in West Des Moines, Iowa on Jan. 3, 2012.

For the latest information from the campaign trail see our FirstRead blog.