Global Courant
INTERPRETER
Trump wins a decisive victory in the first major caucus of the US presidential race as he cements his status as the frontrunner.
The race for the 2024 US presidential election started on Monday with the Republican caucus in Iowa.
Former US President Donald Trump has decisively won the caucus vote and will now head into next week’s New Hampshire primary with a commanding lead over his rivals. Trump also received support from opponent Vivek Ramaswamy, who dropped his bid after a disappointing loss.
Primaries and caucuses are ways Republicans and Democrats choose their presidential candidates. The majority of US states hold primaries, while some traditionally Republican states such as Iowa hold caucuses to choose delegates. Delegates elected in primaries and caucuses vote in the respective party conventions to nominate the party candidate. The Republican National Convention will be held in July.
Here’s what you need to know about the results and highlights.
Results
Trump confirmed his status as the frontrunner of the Republican Party with 51 percent of the votes. Trump likely received strong support from the key voting blocs in the caucus – white evangelicals and very conservative voters.
Trump’s margin was the largest ever in an Iowa caucus, surpassing the previous record of 12.8 percentage points set by Bob Dole in 1988.
His victory comes despite mounting legal challenges on charges including conspiring to overturn the 2020 US election.
Trump collected at least 20 of the 40 delegates, while his closest challenger, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, took eight, followed by Nikki Haley at seven, according to preliminary figures.
DeSantis received more than 21 percent of the vote, while Haley finished right behind him with about 21 percent of the vote. Ramaswamy received only about 8 percent of the vote and received three delegates.
(Al Jazeera)
Ramaswamy suspends presidential bid
After his disappointing ending, the entrepreneur announced he was ending his presidential campaign.
He supported his rival, Trump, whom he had previously called the “best president of the 21st century.”
A political outsider, Ramaswamy shaped his campaign similar to Trump’s, with headline-making statements, unorthodox policy proposals and admonishments to his opponents.
“I am more like Trump in 2015 than Trump today is like Trump in 2015,” Ramaswamy said in an interview with British podcast host Russell Brand in August 2023.
Weather
This year’s Iowa caucus was reported to be the coldest on record, amid low temperatures and winter storms.
The temperature in Des Moines was as low as -22 degrees Celsius (-7.6 degrees Fahrenheit) Monday night, well below the 2004 Iowa caucus, when temperatures dropped to nearly -9 degrees Celsius.
The caucus itself requires lengthy participation, as voters had to first gather at assigned precincts at 7:00 PM local time and then debate candidate options.
To turn out
The bitter cold during the Iowa caucus may have hurt participation levels as it witnessed the lowest turnout in more than a decade.
Edison Research estimated turnout Monday night at 115,000 — down from 186,657 in 2016. This was also down from the 121,503 who showed up in 2012, and the 119,207 voters in 2008.
What’s next?
The next GOP presidential primary will be held in New Hampshire on January 23.
The state will elect 22 delegates to represent it at the Republican convention.
