Three Republican candidates rose to the top in Iowa, with a surprisingly close number of votes: Cruz won with 28% of the vote (8 delegates); then Trump with 24% (7 delegates); then Rubio with 23% (6 delegates). UPDATE: Rubio ended up with 7, the same as Trump.
The Democratic race, as of late Monday evening, is a virtual tie between Sanders and Clinton. UPDATE: Clinton won by only one delegate. UPDATE: When the dust settled, she earned 5 more delegates than he did.
Huckabee and O’Malley are reportedly suspending their campaigns.
Takeaways: Trump is not a juggernaut. Evangelicals, as a whole, are not behind Trump. Rubio is in the mix, with only one percent fewer votes than Trump, (and, in my opinion, will become the rallying point for Republicans who do not like Trump or Cruz). The Democrats are in for a bitter fight, though Clinton will probably prevail in the end.
Go here for complete and up-to-date results. An analysis of the race after the jump. But what is your analysis?
From Trump concedes Iowa race to Cruz; Rubio does far better than expected – The Washington Post:
Supporters of Sen. Ted Cruz delivered a hard-fought upset win over businessman Donald Trump in the Iowa Republican caucuses Monday night, making good on his bet that a methodical campaign organization would eclipse the New Yorker’s media dominance in the first test of GOP voters.
With 99 percent of the precincts reporting, Cruz (Tex.) was besting Trump by more than 5,100 votes, with fellow senator Marco Rubio of Florida a close third. Cruz appeared to capitalize on deep support from religious and social conservatives and showed that old-fashioned retail politicking could overcome Trump’s massive political rallies in the Hawkeye state.
On the Democratic side, former secretary of state Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) were virtually deadlocked with 91 percent of the precincts reporting, as months of heated rhetoric and fierce jockeying in the 2016 race for the White House was finally put to the test on both sides.
Former Maryland governor Martin O’Malley had negligible support and was expected to suspend his campaign Monday night, according to a person close to his campaign.
Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee also suspended his campaign.
[Keep reading. . .]
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