WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) – Former President Donald Trump has won the first in the nation Iowa caucuses, closing out the official first chapter of the 2024 campaign, as Iowans braved frigid temperatures to cast their votes.
This now sets the stage for at least the next part of the campaign in New Hampshire next week, the question is what happens to those who came in behind the former president.
Despite facing more than 90 criminal charges across multiple states, Iowa Republicans showed they want the former president to be their next one.
Governor Ron DeSantis and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley took second and third places respectively, leaving their paths forward in question.
“Because of your support, in spite of all of that that they threw at us, everyone against us, we’ve got our ticket punched out of Iowa,” said DeSantis.
Haley said, “I love you Iowa but we’re on to New Hampshire.”
Tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy suspended his campaign after a fourth-place finish and threw his support behind Trump.
“He will have my full endorsement for the presidency, and I think we’re going to do the right thing for this country,” he said.
Since last week, Iowa has been dealing with historically bad weather with wind chills in the negative 20-30’s and in some cases blizzard conditions. It will take at least another day or two to get a sense of just how that impacted voter turnout.
The former president now heads to New York City, for another court appearance Tuesday before heading to New Hampshire, hoping for a repeat of his Iowa success.
The case in New York City involves the former president’s civil trial in a sexual assault case involving author E. Jean Carroll.