Ted Cruz fought off attacks by Donald Trump to win conservatives, but more Iowans viewed Marco Rubio as electable in November. Powered by support from evangelical Christians, Senator Ted Cruz’s victory threw into question the depth of support for Donald J. Trump. In a state that has long rewarded conservatives who put religion at the fore, and in an era dictated by the use of data, the Texan won on the strength of both.
On the Republican side, the story of the night is that Trump is beatable and his candidacy is now punctured.
On the losing side: Donald Trump, Martin O’Malley and Jeb Bush, to name a few. Bush turned out to be a dreadful campaigner waging a futile battle for Republican hearts.
Hillary Clinton’s strong support among women and older voters was matched by the passionate liberal foot soldiers whom Bernard Sanders has been calling to political revolution. Results from Iowa’s Democratic Party, announcing 100 percent of the precincts counted, gave Clinton a whisker-thin margin: 49.8 percent to Sanders’s 49.6 percent — setting up what is likely to become a prolonged nominating contest. Voters for Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders were divided by age and diverged over the issues of electability and trustworthiness.
The close results were deeply unnerving to Mrs. Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, as well as her advisers. they now head to New Hampshire, where Mr. Sanders is heavily favored in the polls, and brace themselves for another battle before they reach more hospitable states like Nevada and South Carolina. Brian Fallon, a Clinton spokesman, declared a victory for Mrs. Clinton. “We believe strongly that we won tonight,” Mr. Fallon said. “Senator Sanders has been saying for weeks that if this caucus was a high turnout affair, he would win. He was wrong.”
Monday night’s results have confirmed that despite fissures that have divided right and left, voters are united in an impatience, even a revulsion, at what they see as a rigged system.
The presidential hopefuls now face a different set of voters and issues heading into the nation’s first primary: more moderate than Iowans in general, and less attuned to religious-oriented appeals on the campaign trail.