Donald Trump, the twice-impeached former president, easily beat his rivals in historically cold Iowa caucuses Monday, according to the Associated Press, CNN, and other outlets, confirming his status as the GOP front-runner in the first contest of the party primary. “I think I deserve it,” Trump told caucus-goers in Clive as voting began Monday, urging them to support him.
The election was called just 30 minutes into caucus time before most of the votes were reported. But by the end of the evening, it appeared that Ron DeSantis had prevailed over Nikki Haley in the closely watched race to establish an alternative for the anti-Trump wing of the party to rally around. (Vivek Ramaswamy, who finished behind DeSantis and Haley, suspended his campaign after the caucus and endorsed Trump.) But with a double-digit margin between Trump and his challengers, it was unclear whether the outcome of the race for second would end up meaning anything in the long run, or if Trump’s dominance with the Republican electorate is too ingrained.
Indeed, his rivals—other than Chris Christie, who suspended his campaign last week, days before the caucus—mostly tread carefully around the former president, running against him while trying to avoid alienating his base, even as he attacked DeSantis, Haley, and Vivek Ramaswamy in often intensely personal terms. “It’s not going to happen for her, or DeSanctimonious! Vivek Votes are wasted, should come to “TRUMP,” he posted Monday. “MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!”
The contest played out against the backdrop of heavy snow, which snarled campaigns in the final week of barnstorming, and record cold, which loomed over caucus night as candidates pressed their supporters to brave the brutal winter weather. “Even if you vote and then pass away,” Trump said at a rally just before the caucus, “it’s worth it.”
That capped a strange caucus season in which Trump—running as though he were an incumbent—declined to participate in debates with his challengers, instead counterprogramming their bickering matches with friendly town halls. Trump, who is facing 91 criminal charges, including over his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results, was, at times, in courtrooms rather than the campaign trail. While his rivals engaged in more traditional campaigning. Haley, DeSantis, and especially Ramaswamy sometimes seemed to be vying for a position in a future Trump administration rather than a face-off with Joe Biden in November.
Now, the national attention will turn to New Hampshire, where Haley has pulled within single digits of Trump in some polls. “Tonight’s contest is simply a question of whether you like your MAGA Trump agenda wrapped in the original packaging or with high heels or with lifts in their boots,” Biden campaign surrogate JB Pritzker said in a statement. “Instead, the real decision will be made in the general election where the stakes couldn’t be higher.”
