The US presidential race began with Trump’s victory

Donald Trump won the first US election contest in 2024, easily fending off Republican rivals who failed to achieve the same popularity as the former president.

The Associated Press announced the race for Trump was quickly over while caucuses in much of Iowa were still voting, signaling the former president’s large lead in the race.

“Three years ago we were a great nation, and now our nation is in decline,” Trump told fans after the results confirmed his victory. The former US president then made many promises about what he would do during his second term, including giving police officers full immunity.

The heated battle for second place took much longer, and Ron Desantis beat Nikki Haley in frustration, notes The Guardian.

The Florida governor campaigned in traditional Iowa fashion, visiting all 99 counties in hopes that voters there would reward him. Meanwhile, Nikki Haley, the former governor of South Carolina, was considered the most moderate Republican candidate and had a better chance of defeating Joe Biden in the general election than the candidates to her right.

Ron DeSantis could see more momentum in his campaign after an unexpectedly strong performance, albeit a distant finish to front-runner Trump. “They threw everything but the kitchen sink at us,” he said, speaking to supporters in Des Moines at the end of the evening.

After all the time and money spent on his campaign in Iowa, his performance was still disappointing. But his candidacy survived to fight on. “We punched our ticket out of Iowa,” DeSantis said.

Three other candidates finished well below Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley, scoring in the single digits. Businessman Vivek Ramaswamy led the lesser-known group before he dropped out of the race Monday night and endorsed Trump, followed by Asa Hutchinson, the former governor of Arkansas, and pastor Ryan Binkley.

Early estimates suggest 100,000 Republicans voted in Monday’s caucuses, a significant drop from turnout in 2016, Iowa Republican Party Chairman Jeff Kaufman said.

Voters gathered at schools, libraries, community centers and even a grain elevator Monday to discuss the situation with neighbors, but harsh winter weather left them facing sub-zero temperatures, bitter winds and snow drifts. Some may have been unable to reach their site due to road closures and other obstacles.

Among voters who backed Trump, many shrugged off the former president’s legal troubles and concerns about democracy itself. The reason retired farmer Ron Osborne backed Trump, the top vote-getter in Malcolm, Iowa, was simple. “I think he’s the only one who can beat the crooked Democrats,” the 73-year-old said.

Those who chose other candidates said they were sick of Trump’s chaos and wanted to move forward without the noise associated with his policies. Kent Christen, a Cedar Rapids voter who supported DeSantis, said of Trump: “Chaos follows him. He’s like an instrument of chaos. I’m a little tired of all this. That’s the main reason I’m tired of him.”

The Iowa contest opens the 2024 US election cycle, but the first season is predicted to eventually feature a rematch between Trump and Biden.

Heading into the Republican primary runoff, the battlefield narrowed and Trump never lost his lead. His ardent followers showed up at rallies and worked on the ground, ignoring ongoing legal challenges and the increasingly harsh rhetoric the former president used during the campaign as he vowed a second term focused on retribution against his political opponents. Threats of political violence are already looming over the election as officials and judges face increasing harassment, the Guardian notes.

The focus now shifts to New Hampshire, the next primary contest on the Republican political calendar. Democrats are also skipping the Granite State, choosing South Carolina as the first official left-wing contest, although candidates challenging the incumbent are still on the ballot.