Iowa Republicans have scheduled the party's presidential nominating caucuses for Jan. 15, 2024, putting the first votes of the next election a little more than six months away.The Iowa Republican Party's state central committee voted unanimously Saturday to hold the leadoff contests on the third Monday in January — on the Martin Luther King Jr. Day federal holiday.Though Republican presidential candidates have been campaigning in Iowa since last winter, there has been some uncertainty about when the traditional leadoff contests would be held. That is partly due to the Democratic National Committee's reshuffling of its calendar and dropping Iowa as its first contest.The GOP date is earlier by several weeks than the past three Iowa caucuses, though not as early as 2008, when they were held just three days into the new year.Caucuses, unlike primary elections, are contests planned, financed and carried out by the parties, not state election officials. The Iowa announcement Saturday allows New Hampshire, which has not set a primary election date yet, to protect its first-in-the-nation status, which is codified in state law that requires that contest to be held at least seven days ahead of any other primary.Last month, South Carolina Republicans adopted Feb. 24 as the date for the traditional first Southern primary, leaving plenty of time for Nevada to schedule its Republican caucuses without crowding New Hampshire."We remain committed to maintaining Iowa's cherished first-in-the-nation caucuses, and look forward to holding a historic caucus in the coming months and defeating Joe Biden come November 2024," Iowa Republican Party Chairman Jeff Kaufmann said in a statement.Saturday's decision could have implications for both parties because Iowa Democrats had been waiting on the state's Republican Party to set its caucus date as they try to adjust to new DNC rules on the order of the 2024 presidential primary.Iowa Democrats have proposed holding a caucus on the same day as the state's Republicans and allowing participants to vote for president via mail-in ballot. But Iowa Democrats have said they may not immediately release the results.That could allow the state party to still hold the first-in-the-nation caucus without defying a new primary calendar endorsed by President Joe Biden and approved by the DNC that calls for South Carolina to replace Iowa in the leadoff spot and kick off primary voting on Feb. 3.

Former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, who is running for president, touched on a number of topics recently in a "Conversation with the Candidate" town hall event.Watch the full conversation in the video player above or the links below. Included is a 30-minute, online-only portion of the conversation:Watch Part 1: Haley calls for cognitive test for presidentWatch Part 2: Haley shares how she'd tackle health care costsWatch online exclusive: Haley, on debt, says kids 'won't forgive us'Learn more about Nikki Haley's backgroundHaley was first elected to office in the South Carolina State House in 2004 by edging out a 30-year Republican incumbent.From there, she would become the state's first female governor and the nation's youngest state executive.In 2015, Haley led South Carolina through one of its darkest moments: the deadly shooting at Charleston's Emanuel AME Church. She signed a bill ordering the removal of the Confederate battle flag from the State House grounds.Haley stepped down in her second term to serve as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations during the Trump administration.She said her presidential campaign is about moving "past stale ideas and faded names" to lead a new generation into the future of the country.An accountant by training, Haley graduated from Clemson University.Born in Bamberg, South Carolina, she is the daughter of Indian immigrants.Haley and her husband Michael, a captain in the Army National Guard, have two children. See the full "Conversation with the Candidate" event through the following links:Watch Part 1: Haley calls for cognitive test for presidentWatch Part 2: Haley shares how she'd tackle health care costsWatch online exclusive: Haley, on debt, says kids 'won't forgive us'Amid fentanyl crisis, Haley calls for sanctions of China, sending special forces to take out drug cartelsWhen asked how to give specific steps to tackle the opioid crisis, Haley highlighted the importance of securing the country's borders before turning her attention to China. "And don't think for a second China doesn't know what they're doing when they send it over. This is all part of the bigger plan. So, how do we deal with it?" Haley said. "First of all, you acknowledge to China that we know they're doing it."Haley called for sanctions to deal with China in regard to the opioid crisis."There's nothing China hates worse than us hitting them in the wallet, and you sanction them until they stop the flow of fentanyl," Haley said. "They're sending it over to these cartels."According to the U.S. Justice Department, companies in China spawn fentanyl precursor chemicals. Chinese officials in April denied they were trafficking fentanyl to Mexico, instead blaming the U.S. for the problem. Haley said her focus would also be on the cartels. "Treat those cartels for the terrorists that they are. We send in our special operation units, and we take them out, just like took out Al-Qaida. And you stop all of that manufacturing that's happening there on the side of Mexico.""When we do that, that's when we'll actually start saving Americans again," Haley said.Haley says 'woke ideology' in schools has been 'massive distraction' to educating children"As a mom, I really do worry about what's happening in education, and the problem is, people need to be honest about what's happened," Haley said.Haley said the country's education problem came before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. She cited statistics that showed a lack of proficiency with reading, math, history and civics among the nation's eighth-graders, and that the situation worsened over the first two years of the pandemic.Haley then brought up her issues with critical race theory, which the Associated Press referred to as "a way of thinking about America’s history through the lens of racism," and transgender girls participating in girls' sports, something Haley referred to as "the women's issue of our time." The former South Carolina governor then brought up Dylan Mulvaney-Bud Light controversy. "Make no mistake. That is a guy, dressed up like a girl mocking women," Haley said. See more from Haley on this topic in the video player below:See the full "Conversation with the Candidate" event through the following links:Watch Part 1: Haley calls for cognitive test for presidentWatch Part 2: Haley shares how she'd tackle health care costsWatch online exclusive: Haley, on debt, says kids 'won't forgive us'Other "Conversation with the Candidate" events will be held throughout the campaign season. The full list of candidates who participate will be updated here.