Former President Donald Trump handily won the Iowa caucuses Monday, multiple outlets projected—kicking off the 2024 presidential election cycle that’s widely expected to end in a rematch between Trump and President Joe Biden.
Former president Donald Trump speaks to voters during a visit to a caucus site at the Horizon Event ... [+]
The caucuses convened at 7 p.m. Central Time Monday throughout more than 1,600 precincts in Iowa’s 99 counties.
The race was called less than an hour after the caucuses convened, with less than 1% of votes in so far.
- That’s how many delegates are at stake in Iowa, of more than 2,400 nationally. It takes 1,215 to win the GOP nomination.
The contest can boost candidates in subsequent primaries who perform well in Iowa by attracting media attention, but they don’t always predict the primary winners. The past three winners of Iowa’s GOP caucuses—Texas Sen. Ted Cruz in 2016, Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum in 2012 and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee in 2008—did not secure the nomination.
Trump headed into caucus night with a commanding lead nationally, TK points ahead of DeSantis, according to FiveThirtyEight’s polling average, and a 34-point lead over Haley in Iowa. DeSantis, despite campaigning in all 99 counties and earning an endorsement from Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, recently dipped below Haley in polls, which show 19% support her compared to 16% who back DeSantis in Iowa. In addition to the three leaders, former biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Texas pastor Ryan Binkley are also on the ballot. Trump has surged in the polls despite his increasingly incendiary rhetoric and various legal woes, which could come to a head before the November general election as he has six trial dates scheduled before then. The U.S. Supreme Court is also likely to decide next month whether he can remain on the ballot in Maine and Colorado, and possibly additional states, that are seeking to have him shown ineligible to run under a 14th Amendment provision that prohibits anyone who has taken an oath of office and participated in an insurrection from running again.
Democrats are also beginning their caucuses in Iowa Monday by mail-in vote, but will not release the results until Super Tuesday on March 5, when 15 states and one territory will select more than a third of all delegates up for grabs. The delayed release of the results is to comply with the Democratic National Committee’s new primary calendar, which designates South Carolina as the first primary state on Feb. 3. The contest is not competitive, as President Joe Biden is all-but-guaranteed to secure the nomination over author Marianne Williamson and Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.).