Iowa Caucus Results (12:40 a.m.)
Democrats (97 percent reporting)
Hillary Clinton: 50 percent
Bernie Sanders: 50 percent
Martin O’Malley: 1 percent
Other – 0 Percent
Republicans (99 percent reporting)
Ted Cruz: 28 percent (Winner)
Donald Trump: 24 percent
Marco Rubio: 23 percent
Ben Carson: 9 percent
Rand Paul: 5 percent
Jeb Bush: 3 percent
Mike Huckabee: 2 percent
Carly Fiorina: 2 percent
John Kaisch: 2 percent
Chris Christie: 2 percent
Rick Santorum: 1 percent
Jim Gilmore: 0 percent
Other: 0 percent
—
Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders were locked in an improbably tight duel in Iowa’s leadoff presidential caucuses Monday as the two rivals offered Americans a stark choice between political pragmatism and revolution.
Nine months after launching their campaigns, Clinton and Sanders faced Iowa voters in equally precarious positions. Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, unable to turn it into a three-way race, ended his quest for the nomination.
Clinton, who entered the race as the heavily favored front-runner, was hoping to banish the possibility of dual losses in Iowa and in New Hampshire, the nation’s first primary, where she trails the Vermont senator. Two straight defeats could set off alarms within the party and throw into question her ability to defeat a Republican.
Sanders, for his part, was hoping to replicate President Barack Obama’s pathway to the presidency by using a victory in Iowa to catapult his passion and ideals of "democratic socialism" deep into the primaries. He raised $20 million during January and hoped to turn an Iowa win into a fundraising bonanza.
"We’ve got a tie ballgame — that’s where we are," Sanders told volunteers and supporters in Des Moines, imploring them to turn out for the caucuses.
Even before the caucuses began, Sanders was working to discount the importance of any Clinton edge coming out of Iowa, telling reporters that if the former secretary of state "ends up with two delegates more of many, many hundred delegates, you tell me why that’s the end of the world."
He served notice: "We’re taking this all of the way."
A loss in Iowa would be a disappointment for Sanders’ upstart challenge against Clinton, who has deep ties throughout the party’s establishment and a strong following among a more diverse electorate that plays a larger role in primary contests in February and March.
Caucus-goers were choosing between Clinton’s pledge to use her wealth of experience in government to bring about steady progress on democratic ideals and Sanders’ call for radical change in a system rigged against ordinary Americans.
"Hillary goes out and works with what we have to work with. She works across the aisle and gets things accomplished," said 54-year-old John Grause, a precinct captain for Clinton in Nevada, Iowa.
"It’s going to be Bernie. Hillary is history. He hasn’t been bought," countered 55-year-old Su Podraza-Nagle, 55, who was caucusing for Sanders in the same town.
With the race too close to call, Portia Boulger, a 63-year-old Sanders supporter from Chillicothe, Ohio, said a razor-thin outcome was as good as a victory.
"The political revolution is here and it’s started in Iowa. Win, lose or draw, we have won," Boulger said as she gathered with Sanders’ backers at his party in Des Moines.
In a campaign in which Clinton has closely aligned herself with Obama, more than half of Democratic caucus-goers said they were looking for a candidate who would continue the president’s policies, according to preliminary entrance polls of those beginning to arrive at caucus locations.
Sanders’ appeal with young voters was evident: More than 8 in 10 caucus-goers under 30 came to support him, as did nearly 6 in 10 of those between ages 30 and 44. Clinton got the support of 6 in 10 caucus-goers between ages 45 and 64, and 7 in 10 of those 65 and over.
Caucus-goers were about evenly split between health care and the economy as the top issues facing the nation. About a quarter said the top issue was income inequality, Sanders’ signature issue.
About 4 in 10 said they were first-time caucus attendees, about the same proportion who said so in 2008, when Obama’s support among newcomers was critical.
(Copyright (c) 2016 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)