This election season is heating up to be a riveting one.

By Rebekah Karp, Staff Writer/Artist

With the election year upon us, it seems to be the only thing that the news is talking about lately. For a lot of us, this will be the first year we can vote for a president. All of this can seem very overwhelming, which is understandable. In these early stages of the election, the caucuses are a hot topic. So, what the heck are caucuses? 

A caucus is a big meeting or gathering of supporters and members of a political party. Why are these caucuses important? These meetings are not official pollings; they are simply places to discuss and vote on candidates. Caucuses are how the democratic nominee for the president of the U.S. is chosen. This happens at the Iowa Caucus and other caucuses around the United States. 

So far, Bernie Sanders is in the lead with the most wins of delegates. There are 1,991 delegates needed to win a nomination, and as of February 23, 2020, Bernie Sanders is in the lead with 34 won delegates, with Pete Buttigieg following close behind with 23 delegates. There are 14 of these caucuses, and each has its own state. The remaining states to have their caucuses are Alaska, Minnesota, Wyoming, Kansas, Kentucky and Maine. 

This year will be very interesting with how the election swings. There are very passionate people on each side and very passionate supporters. The caucuses may be a prediction, but nothing is set in stone yet. It is cool to see an overall winning streak with one candidate and a sort of unity behind one person, but it is still early on. It will be an exciting year for many of us to be voting for the first time. 

Make sure you do your research and come up with the candidate that you support. Do not believe all that the media says or what your relatives say. This election year will be fascinating!