I have a long caucus history. And the more I share it with people, the more I realize that I was witness to a great deal of history.

My father always attended the caucuses. He was a business agent for Laborer’s Local 43, and he was determined to have a labor voice at the table.

Thankfully, he let me tag along to caucuses three times before I was an adult.

So here is my caucus history. It is a long read, but I hope you find it interesting:

1972: I grew up on a Heritage farm south of Lisbon. While the town of Lisbon was fairly Democratic in those days (a good density of union folks), our rural precinct was mostly Republicans.

One big exception were our neighbors, the Ferguson family. They were well-known Democrats.

There were probably 12 people there, half of them members of the Ferguson family.

Dad caucused for George McGovern, and I think he won our little caucus.

1976: We were at Ferguson’s once again with about 12 people, but there were fireworks this time.

The Fergusons were farmers and loved Jimmy Carter. I do not recall who Dad supported, but I know it wasn’t Carter.

I will never forget the fight they had. There was a lot of swearing and yelling.

1980: This year also had fireworks. Dad and many other union folks supported Ted Kennedy against the incumbent President Carter.

I don’t recall who won our caucus, but it was quite contentious, and foreshadowed Carter’s loss in the general election.

1988: This was a watershed year. I got very involved in the Jesse Jackson campaign, and met my longtime mentor Dave Leshtz.

In many ways, this set the stage for the rest of my life in politics.

Jackson did much better than expected in my precinct, in Johnson County, and in Iowa, and I was hooked.

1992: Like most Iowans, I caucused for Iowa’s own Sen. Harkin. Man, I wish Tom had won that race.

1996: This year the fireworks came after the caucus. I was one of several Democrats in my precinct who disliked Bill Clinton.

He was a liar, and likely a sex offender. Meanwhile, he had orchestrated huge cuts to social services programs.

I caucused against the incumbent President, for undecided.

I went to the after-caucus party, and heard similar stories from around Iowa City.

Mann, Lincoln, and the IMU had voted similar to my precinct. At Longfellow, “undecided” had fared even better.

So imagine our surprise the next day when every paper in the state reported that Clinton had won all the delegates.

It was a legitimate scandal, followed by a legitimate coverup. I don’t recall how it was resolved; I think it was simply swept under the table.

2000: I went against the incumbent Vice President Al Gore and caucused for New Jersey Sen. Bill Bradley.

Bradley actually did better in Johnson County than any other county in the country, so we had a powerful team.2004: I supported Howard Dean for president and participated in Dean for America activities. You remember the Dean collapse – Gephardt going on a suicide mission to undermine Dean and prop up John Kerry.

The caucuses were crowded; this is the first year I ever felt this way. They were also frenetic and frustrating.

2008: What a year! I was one of the first elected officials in the country to support Barack Obama. For the first time in my life, my candidate won.

We caucused at Hoover Elementary, and the numbers were unbelievable. We filled the whole first floor of the building.

People registered to vote on napkins, pizza box lids and notebook paper. I will never forget the crowd that night.

Obama won big in my precinct, big in Johnson County, and big in Iowa.

2016: I was the first elected official in the country to endorse Bernie Sanders.

The caucus was huge; about 900 people in the cafeteria at City High.

It was also the closest ever; Hillary Clinton defeated Bernie Sanders by one percentage point both in my precinct and in Iowa as a whole.

What will happen in 2020? We will find out soon.