Donald Trump wins Iowa Republican caucuses in first contests of 2024

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Former President Donald Trump has won the Iowa Republican caucuses, according to a race call by The Associated Press. More than 70 percent of Iowa GOP caucus goers voted for Trump, according to the AP. Less than 1 percent of the vote has been counted as of 8:38pm ET.

Despite canceling three of his four in-person campaign events over the weekend due to harsh winter weather, Trump called on his supporters to get out and caucus.

"You can't sit home," he said at a rally in Indianola on Sunday. "Even if you vote and then pass away, it's worth it."

Trump has enjoyed a strong lead in Iowa polls since last spring, according to FiveThirtyEight. He also increased that lead over the course of last year, leaving Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley to battle for second place in Iowa.

Trump's lead in Iowa, not to mention nationally, has endured despite his indictment on 91 charges across four criminal cases. He also appeared to take no hit in recent polls for skipping all of the GOP presidential candidate debates.

Iowa has traditionally favored candidates like DeSantis, who make pointed appeals to white evangelicals in the state. In 2016, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz beat Trump in the state by 4 percentage points. In 2012, then-Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum narrowly edged out the eventual GOP nominee, Mitt Romney, in Iowa.

DeSantis put much of his time and effort into campaigning in Iowa, garnering the endorsement of the state's Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds. But it did not help him eat into Trump's lead.

Polling shows that Haley, meanwhile, has gained on Trump in New Hampshire, which holds its primary eight days after Iowa's caucuses, and is hoping for a strong showing against him there. [Copyright 2024 NPR]