Candidates target New Hampshire with Cruz, Clinton leading the race
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REPUBLICANS and Democrats scrambling for their party’s 2016 nomination for president descended on the tiny New England state of New Hampshire yesterday, leaving behind the Iowa caucuses where Ted Cruz, a fiery, conservative Texas senator loathed by his own party’s leaders, swept to victory over billionaire Donald Trump and Florida Senator Marco Rubio.
Among Democrats, Hillary Clinton’s campaign claimed victory in Iowa against Bernie Sanders with official final results still outstanding in the extremely close presidential nominations contest.
“Hillary Clinton has won the Iowa Caucus. After thorough reporting — and analysis — of results, there is no uncertainty and Secretary Clinton has clearly won the most national and state delegates,” Hillary for America’s Iowa State Director Matt Paul said in a statement.
“Statistically, there is no outstanding information that could change the results and no way that Senator Sanders can overcome Secretary Clinton’s advantage.”
The Iowa Democratic Party, however, declined to rule in the race, placing Clinton slightly ahead of Sanders but saying there were still results to come in Des Moines.
Cruz’s victory in Monday’s caucuses, which drew a record turnout, was a blow to Trump, the real estate mogul who has roiled the Republican field for months with controversial statements about women and minorities.
Cruz now heads to next Tuesday’s first-in-the-nation primary vote in New Hampshire as an undisputed favorite of the furthest right voters, including evangelical voters and others who prioritize an abrupt break with President Barack Obama’s policies.
But Trump still holds a commanding lead in New Hampshire and national polls.
“Iowa has sent notice that the Republican nominee and next president of the United States will not be chosen by the media, will not be chosen by the Washington establishment,” Cruz told supporters.
Trump came in second, slightly ahead of Rubio, whose stronger-than-expected finish could help cement his status as the favorite of mainstream Republican voters who worry that Cruz and Trump are too caustic to win the November general election.
Trump sounded humble in defeat, saying he was “honored” by the support of Iowans. And he vowed to keep up his fight, telling cheering supporters that “we will go on to easily beat Hillary or Bernie or whoever the hell they throw up.”
In the Democratic race, Iowa caucus-goers had been choosing between Clinton’s pledge to use her wealth of experience in government to bring about steady progress on party ideals and Sanders’ call for radical change in a system rigged against ordinary Americans. Young voters overwhelmingly backed Sanders.
However, Clinton, the former secretary of state, US senator and first lady, was confident she had banished the possibility of dual losses in Iowa and in New Hampshire, where she trails Sanders, who is from neighboring Vermont. Two straight defeats could have thrown into question her ability to defeat the Republican nominee.
Clinton appeared before supporters to declare she was “breathing a big sigh of relief,” later declaring a narrow victory.
Sanders had been hoping to replicate 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. “It is too late for establishment politics and establishment economics,” said Sanders, who had earlier declared the Iowa contest “a virtual tie.”
Sanders faces an uphill battle 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.
Iowa has long led off the state-by-state contests to choose delegates for the parties’ national conventions. Historically, a victory has hardly assured the nomination, but a win or an unexpectedly strong showing can give a candidate momentum.
Some of the Republican candidates have been focusing more on New Hampshire than Iowa, including former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, Ohio Governor John Kasich and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.
The caucuses marked the end of at least two candidates’ White House hopes.
Former Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley ended his bid for the Democratic nomination, and former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee dropped out of the Republican race.
The state’s 30 Republican delegates to the national convention are awarded proportionally based on the vote, with at least eight delegates going to Cruz, seven to Trump and six to Rubio. The Associated Press awarded all but one of the 44 Democratic convention delegates with Clinton leading Sanders 22 to 21.
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