Iowa Caucuses: Cruz Wins It

The doors closed and the Iowa caucuses officially got underway at 7pm local time, with the two leading questions of the night being, quite simply, Trump or Cruz? Sanders or Clinton? The answer on the Republican side came roughly 2.5 hours later: CNN, AP, and NBC News called the race for Ted Cruz by the time 85% of precincts had reported. According to the Des Moines Register, Cruz has 27.65% with more than 99% of precincts in, Trump is on 24.31% and Marco Rubio is more than nipping at his heels with 23.09%.

Ben Carson—who is on his way home to Florida for "fresh clothes"—is in fourth with 9.31%, and Rand Paul is fifth with 4.53%. Jeb Bush is in sixth with 2.8%. Among the other GOP candidates, it was the toughest night for Chris Christie, who had just 1.76% of votes, above only Rick Santorum, "undecided," and Jim Gilmore, in that order. According to the Register, only 12 people voted for Gilmore. John Kasich, Carly Fiorina, and Mike Huckabee all ended up below the 2% mark. (More Iowa caucuses stories.)