Clinton and Cruz win Iowa caucuses

Monday’s Iowa caucuses ended in an upset for longtime Republican front runner Donald Trump, who came in second to Texas Senator Ted Cruz, and an extremely close win for Hillary Clinton in the Democratic race there.

Cruz ultimately took 27.6 percent of the Republican vote compared to Trump’s 24.3 percent

Clinton just barely held off Senator Bernie Sanders, winning 49.9 percent of the Democratic votes compared with Sanders’ 49.6. The Iowa Democratic Party called it the closest race in its caucus history.

Each candidate took a portion of the state’s party delegates. Candidates need to win a certain number of delegates to win their party’s nomination to run in the general election, but there are a few steps in the process. Iowa caucus-goers elect county delegates who then elect state-wide delegates to attend the national party convention where nominations take place. Cruz earned eight county delegates in Iowa on Monday while Clinton earned 23.

While the results will undoubtedly help the winners’ campaigns, they also brought an end for those who saw little support among Iowa voters. Democratic candidate and former Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley ended his presidential campaign before votes were fully counted Monday night and former Arkansas Governor and Republican candidate Mike Huckabee also dropped out.

The next primary takes place on Feb. 9 in New Hampshire. Most candidates still in the race have already arrived there to continue the next phase of campaigning.

Key terms

• grassroots — ordinary people that make up the main body of an organization, as contrasted with the established leadership of a political party or social organization
• anti-establishment — view or belief in which one stands in opposition to the conventional social, political and economic principles of a society
• progressive — a group, person or idea that favors implementing social reform or new ideas
• delegate — individuals chosen to represent their states at their party conventions prior to a presidential election