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Well-known conservative talk-show host Laura Ingraham has been announced by the Iowa GOP as Master of Ceremony for the Ames Straw Poll on Aug. 11.

"The Laura Ingraham Show" was placed in national syndication in 2001 and is now available on 340 radio stations. After graduating from Dartmouth College, Ingraham worked as a speechwriter in the Reagan administration, the Department of Transportation and the Department of Education. She went on to graduate from the University of Virginia Law School, where she was Notes Editor of the Law Review. She served as law clerk to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and Ralph K. Winter on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. After clerking, she worked as a criminal defense attorney for Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom. In the 1990s, she became a CBS commentaor and hosted a short-lived MSNBC program called "Watch It!"

In addition to hosting a radio program, Ingraham is an author, columnist and frequent guest of and contributor to Fox News.

Most recently, Ingraham created controversy on election day -- Nov. 6, 2006 -- by encouraging her listeners to launch en mass class to a toll-free Democratic Party hotline intended for reports of voting problems. At a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Nov. 16, Sen. Patrick Leahy asked Wan Kim, assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division, to investigate Ingraham for voter fraud. Kim acknowledged Ingraham's actions were questionable, but indicated an investigation was not within the jurisdiction of his division. No legal action was taken.

In order to cast a ballot in the Ames Straw Poll, Republican residents must attend the event and either purchase a ballot for $35 or have their chosen candidate purchase a ballot on their behalf. The day will begin at 9 a.m. with a Fair Tax Rally in Stephens Auditorium featuring Neal Boortz. Voting begins at 10 a.m. and the National Rifle Association Rally and "American Solutions" workshops kick off at 11 a.m.

The official welcome address will begin at noon and is quickly followed by candidate speeches and additional official program highlights. Voting ends at 6 p.m. with official results announced at roughly 7 p.m.