The Iowa Caucuses were held Monday, with former President Donald Trump (R-FL), leading in the primary against his main rivals Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL) and former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley (R-SC), taking second with 21%, and third with 19%, respectively. Other lesser candidates, such as businessman Vivek Ramaswamy (R-OH) and former governor Asa Hutchinson (R-AR) collected around 9% of the vote in the state, with Ramaswamy and Hutchinson dropping out directly after the caucuses.
Trump, who for much of the campaign has had a large lead in the polls gearing up for Monday’s election, took 51% of the vote, taking 20 of 40 delegates the state had to offer. Trump has put a lot of emphasis on the state during the campaign. The former president told supporters at a rally in Indianola last Sunday that “The Washington swamp has done everything in its power to take away your voice. But tomorrow is your time to turn on them and to say and speak your mind and to vote.”
While Trump led the Caucuses, the opposing candidates were more so fighting to place second in the primary hoping to get momentum for future primaries that are closer in other states than Iowa. While she placed third, the close finish behind DeSantis could help Haley build momentum for next week’s primary in New Hampshire, being the state is closer in the polling than Iowa. A poll taken by the University of New Hampshire from Jan. 4-8 has the former president leading Haley by single digits, 39% to 32%.
While the governor placed second, the finish is a strong showing for the campaign of DeSantis, who had put a lot of resources into the state. Stating in a Fox News Town Hall on Jan. 8, DeSantis thought he could outrun the polls. He stated at the event “I honestly think Iowans have it within their power to upend all of that.” He later stated “Ultimately, it’s the people that decide these, not the polls. I can tell you this: If Iowans come out and vote for me and caucus for me in large numbers, we’re building the operation to do that, those national polls will change.” The governor had garnered many endorsements from the state, including 13 members of the State Senate, 25 members of the state House of Representatives, and the highest being the state’s governor, Kim Reynolds (R-IA). DeSantis also garnered the support of Robert “Bob” Vander Plaats, a political activist in the state who is also the CEO and president of “The Family Leader,” a conservative leaning organization run out of the state of Iowa.
After the win, Trump pledged his thanks to Iowans, stating that “Well, I want to thank everybody. This has been some period of time, and most importantly we want to thank the great people of Iowa. Thank you, we love you all.“. After the loss, Haley and DeSantis were still optimistic. Haley stated that “If you look at how we’re doing in New Hampshire, South Carolina, and beyond, I can safely say that Iowa made this Republican primary a two person race”. DeSantis stated that “They threw everything but the kitchen sink at us”. The governor later stated that “They were predicting that we wouldn’t be able to get our ticket punched here out of Iowa. But I can tell you, because of your support, in spite of all of that that they threw at us, everyone against us, we’ve got our ticket punched out of Iowa.” If Trump secures enough votes in the remaining caucuses and primaries to become the Republican nominee, he will be the first former president to be a major candidate in an election since Theodore Roosevelt in 1912. If he wins the general election, he will be the first president to serve two non consecutive terms since Grover Cleveland.