Donald Trump has won a landslide victory in the Iowa caucus, cementing his status as the clear frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
The Iowa caucus was the first step for Republicans in choosing a candidate to take on the Democrats in November’s election.
By claiming fifty percent of the vote in the largest win in caucus history, putting him on course to his third consecutive nomination, he showed that eight years after his presidential victory, the current GOP is entirely his party, says CNN.
“The big night is going to be in November when we take back our country,” Trump told his supporters. He asked Americans to “come together” behind his campaign to beat President Joe Biden and fix the problems of the world at a rally following the result.
Iowa is only one state in a long nominating process. Votes cast in the caucuses represent a small proportion of the state’s population.
However, Trump’s dominance of rural voters in the state mirrors his support base in less populated areas. Polls suggest his victory could be replicated in most GOP bastions nationwide, CNN notes.
How Trump’s rivals fared in Iowa caucus
Neither of Trump’s main rivals, Nikki Haley nor Ron DeSantis, emerged as a lead challenger. Hence, the “not-Trump vote” remains divided. Meanwhile, his most ideologically similar rival, Vivek Ramaswamy, announced he was dropping out and would be endorsing Trump in New Hampshire on Tuesday.
With almost all the votes counted, Trump had won 51 percent, with DeSantis at 21 percent and Haley at 19 percent.
DeSantis celebrated the end result, saying it had come after critics “threw everything but the kitchen sink at us.” His campaign confirmed DeSantis would stay in the race after his second-place finish.
Despite losing her face-off with DeSantis, Haley claimed she was now in a two-way race with Trump and that she remained “the last best hope of stopping the Biden-Trump nightmare.”
She congratulated Trump but touted her electability in a general election versus Democrat Joe Biden and asked voters to usher in “a new generation of conservative leadership.”
DeSantis doesn’t have much hope of capturing the nomination, but there may be a rationale for his staying in the race. Haley came in third, but she is most focused on next week’s New Hampshire primary, where independent, undeclared voters and moderate Republicans offer her best chance to score an early win over Trump.
The electoral map of Iowa also illustrates the daunting task she faces in creating a path to the GOP nomination. In rural areas, where most Republicans live, she made little impression.
Related: Supreme Court to Rule if Donald Trump Can Run for President
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