Arctic conditions led to the lowest turnout in Iowa's Republican caucus in decades Monday night, with just over 110,000 voters voting for the candidate of their choice, according to the state Republican Party.
Temperatures across the Hawkeye State ranged from a high of 1 degree Fahrenheit to a low of -8 degrees Fahrenheit, with strong winds making it feel like 25 degrees below zero. national weather bureau And Fox Weather.
The state's Republican Party has fewer than 19% of its more than 594,000 eligible voters. According to the Iowa Secretary of State's Office — Overcoming the deep freeze to hold caucuses in 1,657 constituencies.
However, voters still turned out in larger numbers than in 2000. Approximately 86,000 Iowa Republicans voted in temperatures as low as 5 degrees, giving then-Texas Governor George W. Bush a victory in the Republican leadership race.
Mr. Bush secured the Republican nomination that year and became one of the three Iowa caucus winners, along with then-President Gerald Ford in 1976 and then-Kansas State Senator Bob Dole in 1996. He became one of them.
Thousands more Republicans attended the 2024 Iowa caucuses than in 1996, 1988 and 1980, when turnout was lower than in the state's slightly smaller population.
Republican turnout on Monday fell short of the record set in 2016, when about 187,000 people turned out and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz won by a narrow margin, but he was later defeated by future Donald Trump. – Lost the nomination to President Trump.
More than 121,000 people voted in the Iowa Republican caucus in 2012, and about 118,000 voted in 2008.
The Iowa Republican caucuses were not held during President Bush's 2004 presidential re-election campaign, and in 2020, Mr. Trump won all but one delegate in the Hawkeye State, with former Massachusetts Governor Bill Bill Mr. Weld won the remainder and suspended his campaign the following month.
On Monday, media outlets reported that the Iowa race would go to Trump just 30 minutes after the caucuses began. The former president won with 51.0% approval rating, followed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in second place with 21.2%.
Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley received 19.1% of the Republican vote, and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy received 7.7% before suspending his campaign and endorsing Trump.
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who suspended his campaign last week, has not announced support for one of the remaining candidates, although data shows his voters are shifting to support Haley. ing.
Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who received only 191 votes, abstained on Tuesday morning when the results came in.
Ryan Binkley, a Texas pastor and businessman, received 774 votes but has not yet suspended his campaign.
