Ted Cruz is the projected winner of the Iowa caucuses for the Republicans. The Texas senator captured 28 percent of the vote. Donald Trump placed a close second, and Senator Marco Rubio finished just behind Trump.
The victory for Cruz is the first time that the conventional laws of politics have applied to Trump, a billionaire businessman who has built his campaign around the perception that he’s a winner who can bring his unique skills to the White House.
But Trump’s big personality, social media presence and large rallies failed to overcome Cruz’s more traditional approach to Iowa’s retail politics. Cruz spent months touring the state and reaching out to evangelical voters. The win sets him up as a formidable contender in the delegate-rich, Southern states that crowd the GOP calendar in the coming weeks and offers movement conservatives hope that one of their own can become the nominee for the first time since Ronald Reagan.
Cruz’s win suggests that the Texas senator’s organization, built up over months, could prevail over Trump’s more unorthodox campaign based on the power of his personality and celebrity.
Trump went into Monday night with polls suggesting that he stood on the verge of a potentially stunning victory that would shake that Republican Party establishment. But Iowa caucuses are notoriously hard to predict and Cruz banked on a strong turnout from evangelical voters to build a classic Iowa winning coalition.
Visiting caucuses
Several candidates visited caucus sites on Monday evening. Trump mingled with voters at one West Des Moines location with his wife, Melania, and did some last minute campaigning.
“We are going to strengthen our borders, we are going to build a wall. We are going to bring our country back,” Trump said, stirring cheers from some in the audience.
Long-shot candidate Carly Fiorina appeared at the back of the room at the same caucus site and waved to those inside. Cruz was also expected to head to a caucus location.
Several hundred thousand Iowans in 1,681 precincts are expected to venture out with scattered snow showers in the forecast to exercise their cherished right to cast the first votes in the race that will determine the 45th President of the United States.
The Iowa caucuses have huge symbolic power, and while they don’t always predict who will be sworn in as the next president, they can offer a crucial boost to candidates who do well. They also spell doom for those who barely register and then do badly in the New Hampshire primary.
Earlier on Monday, Cruz, Trump’s main GOP rival heading into tonight, said he’s feeling “at peace” about the caucuses.
“I’m feeling good,” he said on Glenn Beck’s radio program. “I’m feeling at peace, and I’m feeling inspired.”
If Trump emerges on top in Iowa, Cruz said he would “happily congratulate him.”
Even before the caucuses began, Carson’s campaign said he wouldn’t go directly to New Hampshire or South Carolina — the site of the next primary contests. Instead, the retired neurosurgeon, who was briefly the Iowa front-runner last fall, will go to Florida to rest and see family.
Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum is also skipping New Hampshire. He will go straight to South Carolina, which holds its Republican presidential primary on February 20.