(NewsNation) — The first race of the 2024 presidential election cycle began Monday in Iowa as Republicans gathered at churches, schools and auditoriums around the state to declare their preference for their candidate for the GOP ticket.
Former President Donald Trump dominated the polls for weeks, though other candidates — former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson — spent the last weeks braving the cold to woo Republican voters in their favor.
NewsNation had live special coverage throughout the evening with a host of political experts on hand to help explain the process, trends and any surprises.
See the results of the 2024 Iowa caucuses here and look back at NewsNation’s analysis in the blog below.
Before the caucuses began, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley pulled ahead of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for the second-place ranking in polling.
Haley joined “On Balance” to discuss whether she would consider selecting former President Donald Trump as her vice president.
At a West Des Moines caucus site (where Nikki Haley’s watch party happens to be), there was a “good amount” of crossover caucusgoers. This refers to voters who changed their party affiliation to “Republican” to be able to caucus tonight.
The site is getting decent turnout.
— Field report from Kellie Meyer
The precinct captain and caucus chair say there’s good turnout at the Sioux Center Christian School, where an estimated 300 people have gathered.
However, it’s not comparable to previous cycles because of redistricting. There are two precincts at this location, whereas in the past, there were four.
The caucus began with a prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance.
— Field report from Jackie Koppell
Results will be updated as they come in. They can be found here.
Officials in Story County tell NewsNation turnout has been low at the Iowa State University Memorial Union, where there are four caucus sites.
Officials said it could be because students were off for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday Monday, and classes were canceled for Tuesday. It means a lot of students who may have caucused aren’t showing.
Story County was big for Marco Rubio in 2016 (32%), and low turnout could impact Nikki Haley this go-around.
— Field report from Libbey Dean
Caucusing is now underway across Iowa.
Donald Trump lost the 2016 Iowa caucuses to Ted Cruz because he lost the evangelical vote. Trump told NewsNation’s Libbey Dean that he learned a lot from that loss.
In 2008, Mike Huckabee, the ex-governor of Arkansas, secured victory in Iowa by capturing the evangelical vote. He joins “On Balance” to explain why he thinks Trump is appealing to evangelical voters.
The “On Balance” team went to rallies of each of the GOP presidential candidates to get a look at what might come as Iowans head to the polls.
Two-thirds of 2024 GOP Iowa caucusgoers identify as evangelical Christians, a group that has largely supported former President Donald Trump.
Timothy Head, executive director of the Faith and Freedom Coalition, joins NewsNation’s “Elizabeth Vargas Reports” to discuss the role faith will play in the results of the Iowa caucuses, saying Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley both have some support from evangelicals.
Iowa is just the first state in the 2024 election calendar and other dates are fast approaching, including the New Hampshire primary next week. We put together a list of all the primary and caucus dates so you can mark your calendars. Take a look here.
Although Ron DeSantis‘ fellow Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is still leading in the polls, the Florida governor is confident about his chances going into the Republican primaries.
“Donald Trump is running focused mostly on his issues. I’m running focused on your issues and your family’s issues and this country’s future,” DeSantis told NewsNation’s Marni Hughes Tuesday ahead of the Iowa caucuses. “We need a president that can go in, serve two terms and deliver the type of change that I delivered in Florida.”
The Iowa caucuses are just the first test Republican presidential candidates will face in their race toward the GOP nomination and eventual battle for the Oval Office.
There’s a wide field of candidates, so to help voters be more informed about who they are choosing to represent them, NewsNation has created a voter guide.
Not only have we broken down each candidate’s political views by issue, we have created a comparative guide so you can see how each candidate differs in their stance on the same issue.
Here are some handy links to get you started:
Candidates’ policy positions:
- Former President Donald Trump
- Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley
- Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy
- Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis
- Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson
Comparative analysis:
- Where Republican candidates stand on artificial intelligence
- Social Security, Medicare: Where GOP candidates stand on retirement benefits
- Inflation, economy: What GOP presidential candidates say they will do
- Abortion: Where do GOP presidential candidates stand on the issue?
- Where 2024 Republican candidates stand on education
- Fentanyl, opioids: What are the 2024 Republican candidates’ policies?
- Border and immigration: Where Republican candidates stand
- Are immigration issues making voters more conservative?
- Where GOP candidates stand on conflicts in Israel, Ukraine, China
Once a favored method of presidential nominations, caucuses have been replaced by primary elections in several states throughout the years.
Both methods have their supporters and critics, but Iowa’s Republicans have stood by the caucus process, which often has major implications for the presidential election.
Caucuses are meetings run by political parties rather than the government and are hosted at the county, district or precinct level. They don’t all operate the same. Some choose candidates by casting secret ballots, while others divide into groups based on the candidate they support. Each group then gives speeches to try to persuade others to back their candidate.
Caucuses don’t directly elect a presidential candidate. They do, however, determine the number of state delegates who will vote for the caucus winner at the national convention.
The number of delegates given to each candidate is based on the number of caucus votes they receive.
Alternatively, primary elections are hosted by the government and allow individual voters to cast a ballot in favor of their favorite candidates running for office.