Iowa Casts First Votes of 2016

Ted Cruz, Hillary Clinton emerge victorious after caucuses.

As they do every year, Iowans kicked off the presidential election season by holding the Iowa Caucuses. This year proved historical, surpassing previous Republican turnout numbers with more than 180,000 people caucusing this year. The Democrats also saw history; 2016 is the first year where a woman has won in Iowa, and the lead former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton held over Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders was the closest ever recorded at .3 percent.

Former governor of Maryland Martin O’Malley received .6 percent of the vote and announced the end of his race for the Democratic nomination later that day. Former governor of Arkansas Mike Huckabee also withdrew from the Republican race after receiving zero delegates in his favor.

The other winners of the night include the top three Republicans. Texas Senator Ted Cruz officially won Iowa with 27.6 percent of the vote. Following him was businessman Donald Trump, who had boycotted the most recent Republican debate on Jan. 28. Florida senator Marco Rubio finished third, issuing several celebratory statements on Twitter. All three are expected to also perform well in New Hampshire.

New Hampshire’s primary, the first in the nation, will take place on Tuesday, Feb. 9.