What’s next? Chaotic Iowa Caucus finally wraps up as attention turns to New Hampshire

Questions are growing louder about whether Iowa should be first

Troy Price, Chairman of the Iowa Democratic Party, addresses the media about the delayed results from the Iowa caucus. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images) (Getty)

The focus of the political world is now on New Hampshire, with the state’s primary taking place Tuesday.

But before looking ahead to that race, here’s a wrap up of what took place in Iowa last week.

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Delayed results lead to chaos

It wasn’t a good look for Iowa during its caucus, and as a result, many pundits are questioning whether the state should be the first to hold its election during primary season.

Due to discrepancies in counting, it took nearly two days for every precinct to report, when many were expecting full results to be in by Monday night or early Tuesday.

The result ended up being a virtual dead heat between former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Was there a winner for Democrats?

The Associated Press didn’t declare a winner originally because of how close the vote was. But on Sunday, the Iowa Democratic Party gave the most delegates to Buttigieg, who was granted 14 delegates to 12 for Sanders.

Buttigieg finished with 26.2% of the vote, compared to 26.1% for Sanders.

Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren (18%) received eight delegates, while former Vice President Joe Biden (15.8%) received six delegates.

But the results could have potential errors, according to NBC News.

As expected, President Donald Trump had no trouble, collecting 97.1% of votes. One of Trump’s two challengers, Joe Walsh, dropped out days later, leaving just Bill Weld left as an opponent for Trump for the rest of the primaries.

How was turnout?

The number of Democratic voters in the Iowa caucus was bigger than in 2016, but still not as big as officials hoped.

There were 176,436 voters in the Democratic caucus, according to United States Elect Project.

The number was fewer among Republicans, with an incumbent candidate. There were 32,389 voters in the Republican caucus, compared to nearly 187,000 in 2016.

Here’s how voter turnout has been in Iowa over the last four primaries. The 2012 and 2020 turnouts were lower due to one party having incumbent presidential candidates.

  • In 2020, it was 9.1%.
  • In 2016, the turnout was 15.7%.
  • In 2012, the rate was 15.7%.
  • In 2008, it was 16.1%.

About the Author:

Keith is a member of Graham Media Group's Digital Content Team, which produces content for all the company's news websites.