Trump passes nomination test in Iowa
DES MOINES, United States: Donald Trump romped to a lightning-quick victory Monday in Iowa’s caucuses — the first vote in the US presidential race — cementing his status as the presumptive Republican standard-bearer to challenge President Joe Biden in November’s election.
The former president has led polling for more than a year, but the contest was seen as the clearest insight yet into whether he can convert his advantage into a stunning White House return.
Major US networks took just 30 minutes to project the winner, with Trump opening up an unprecedented 32-point lead over second-placed Ron DeSantis over the following hour or so.
The Florida governor and Trump’s other main rival — former UN ambassador Nikki Haley — appeared to be locked in a tussle for the runner-up spot at around 20 and 19 percent respectively.
There had been questions as to whether Trump might have been hamstrung by his legal problems, as he faces civil and criminal trials in multiple jurisdictions in 2024.
But the Iowa victory demonstrated the 77-yearold’s success in turning his prosecutions into a rallying cry that has galvanized his followers as he takes his momentum into New Hampshire, the next state to nominate, next Tuesday.
Bundled up Iowa residents shuffled into more than 1,600 voting locations, braving subzero temperatures in a winter storm that forced candidates to cancel events at the last minute.
Aides of all the hopefuls had fretted over turnout, with some justification, as the number of caucus-goers was estimated shortly after the contest opened to be around 130,000 — substantially down on the 187,000 who turned out in 2016.
The margin of Trump victory was always the main question of the night, with analysts arguing that a gap above 30 points, or a voting share of more than 50 per cent, would be far above par.
The RealClearPolitics polling average shows Trump leading the Republican field nationally with 61.4 per cent support. Haley and DeSantis trail at 12 per cent and 10.7 per cent, respectively.