It was neck-and-neck all night between Ted Cruz and Donald Trump but in the end, Cruz won the Iowa Republican caucus.
The Iowa caucuses started at 7 PM EST and as of 9 PM with 15 percent of the votes in, it was just too close to call. However, Cruz was consistently at the top of the heap all evening with 30 percent of the votes. Trump was a close second with 27 percent, and Rubio third with 19 percent.
9:40PM and 50 percent of the votes were in – Cruz remained on top with 29 percent, followed by 25 percent for Trump, 21 percent for Rubio.
Even with 75 percent of the votes in, it was still too close to call between Cruz and Trump.
Finally, nearly three-and-a-half hours after the caucuses began, at 10:22 PM MSNBC projected Ted Cruz the winner, FOX News called it for Cruz two minutes later, and CNN held out until 10:26 PM to call it for the Texas Senator.
The final tally was 28 percent for Cruz, 24 percent for Trump, 23 percent for Rubio, 9 percent for Ben Carson, 5 percent for Rand Paul, 3 percent for Jeb Bush, and 2 percent for each of the other GOP candidates (Kasich, Fiorina, Huckabee, Christie). According to Edison Research, the turnout for tonight’s Republican caucus was a record-breaking 185,000 Iowans.
GOPer Mike Huckabee announced he is suspending his campaign, no word yet on whether or not he will go back to hosting his FOX News program. Democrat Martin O’Malley also suspended his campaign after dismal numbers at the Iowa caucuses.
The Rubio camp seems happy with the third place caucus outcome. Caucus night, Rubio walked out to a cheering crowd in Des Moines and gave a triumphant speech about overcoming everyone who thought it ‘wasn’t his time to step up’ and those who said he ‘wasn’t experienced enough’. He left Iowa on a high note, enthusiastically claiming that he will ‘unify the conservative movement’ and is excited that his campaign has taken ‘important steps’ to victory.
Trump’s biggest problem all night was that he wasn’t trailing Cruz by much, but that modest margin ultimately proved too large to overcome in Iowa. Trump came in second place and gave a relatively humble speech compared to his usual combative rhetoric. This time, the businessman and politician congratulated his fellow Republicans but took aim straight at Hilary Clinton. “I don’t know what’s going to go on between Bernie and Hillary…but we beat her and we beat her easily…we will beat whomever the hell they throw up there,” Trump said. He also added some of that intangible Trump flare saying, “I think I may come back and buy a farm up here, I love it.”
About an hour after MSNBC projected Ted Cruz the winner, the Republican Senator from Texas took the stage to address his supporters after his Iowa victory. “God bless the great state of Iowa,” he began, Cruz then spoke out against the ‘Washington’ machine and the Obama administration. “Our rights come from our creator,” he said, and then recited a passage from the Bible to a round of applause. Cruz called his campaign a movement to organize against Washington and called the win ” testament for the yearning of American’s want to get back to the Judeo-Christian values.’ Cruz said he’s “not tired…but inspired by each and every one of you” and claimed the night a victory for the grassroots and courageous conservatives.
The Iowa GOP winner has some swag for sale on his campaign site for supporters. Here are some items that caught my eye:
Next on the trail to the White House is New Hampshire’s primary, next Tuesday.
Not sure when your state primary is? Check out this handy schedule.
Chloe Sommers is the Executive Editor of the Never Daunted Radio Network. You can reach her on Twitter @ChloePalma