The Associated Press called the Iowa caucus for former president Donald Trump, who is seeking a second term after a loss to President Joe Biden in 2020, at roughly 7:30 p.m. Monday night, well before thousands of Iowans had voted.
That projection was correct, as Trump cruised to a 51% win in Iowa’s first-in-the-nation Republican caucus. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis finished a distant second at 21.2% and former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley, who was also Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations, finished third with 19.1% of the vote.
Haley prevented Trump from sweeping all 99 counties, winning Johnson County by one singular vote.
Vivek Ramaswamy was fourth at 7.7%, and he dropped out and announced his endorsement of Trump on Tuesday night. Ryan Binkley received 0.7% of the vote.
“The people spoke loud and clear about who they want,” Ramaswamy said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Tonight I am suspending my campaign and endorsing Donald J. Trump and will do everything I can to make sure he is the next U.S. President.”
Speaking in Des Moines after securing the victory, Trump praised Ramaswamy for going from zero to nearly 8% and acknowledged DeSantis and Haley, who “actually did very well,” he said.
“I really think this is time now for our country to come together,” Trump said. “Whether it’s Republican or Democrat, liberal or conservative, it would be so nice if we could come together.”
A statement from the DeSantis campaign hurled accusations of election interference at the media.
"It is absolutely outrageous that the media would participate in election interference by calling the race before tens of thousands of Iowans even had a chance to vote,” DeSantis Communications Director Andrew Romero said. “The media is in the tank for Trump and this is the most egregious example yet."
Trump had a similar response back in 2016, when Sen. Ted Cruz won the Iowa caucus, tweeting, “Ted Cruz didn’t win Iowa, he illegally stole it.” He also accused Cruz of fraud, saying that a new election should take place or the results should be nullified.
Voter turnout was lower than previous years, with extreme wind chills possibly having an effect. Trump received 56,620 votes in Iowa; to put that number in perspective, Cruz received 51,666 votes in 2016 while winning with just 27.6% of the vote.
In Harrison County, Trump earned 66.6% of the vote, receiving 428 votes. DeSantis ended at 13.5% (87), Haley at 11.8%, Ramaswamy at 7.3% and Binkley at 0.5%. Three others sat at 0.3%.
The county-wide Board of Supervisors race in 2022 saw current supervisor Brian Rife receive 2,989 votes and another in Tony Smith receive 2,900 votes.
The next Republican primary is New Hampshire on Jan. 23. The first Democratic primary will be in South Carolina on Feb. 3, as Iowa is no longer first in the nation on that side of things.
Trump is polling at 39% in New Hampshire, with Haley close behind at 32%.
