Washington, Jan 16:
Multiple U.S. media outlets have projected former U.S. President Donald Trump, who is the front-runner in the Republican presidential race, will win the 2024 Iowa Republican caucuses.
CBS News, NBC News, the Associated Press, Fox News and CNN, among others, made the projection just a little over half an hour after Iowa caucuses had opened for first vote in the 2024 White House race.
CBS News said Trump’s expected win proves his grip on the party even as he faces numerous felony charges in four criminal cases. CNN reported that the win cements Trump’s front-runner status in the GOP field.
It remains to be seen who will win the second place, as former South Carolina Governor and UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis battle to emerge as a top alternative to the former president.
Iowa caucuses are closely watched as the first measure of how the Republican presidential field is shaping up in the primary season.
The Iowa caucuses kicked off the 2024 US presidential primary season earlier on Monday night and will provide an outlook on how the contenders for the Republican party presidential nomination are doing in their attempt to win the White House.
The results from the voting in Iowa are about to start coming in.
The Republican caucuses are held at 1,600 polling stations across Iowa but it is hard to estimate how many voters will be present at each, a Republican party spokesperson told Sputnik earlier on Monday.
Iowa will send 40 delegates to the Republican National Convention, which is scheduled for July 15-18 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. A total of 2,500 people will vote at the convention. To win the Republican nomination, a candidate needs to secure the votes of 1,215 delegates.
Republican leader Vivek Ramaswamy, born and raised in Cincinnati, has quit the 2024 US presidential campaign, hours after suffering a heavy defeat in the Iowa caucus. Ramaswamy finished fourth in the race, mustering only eight per cent votes.
The 38-year-old entrepreneur had made waves after joining the race as a relatively unknown face in February 2023. He quickly gained prominence among first-time and young voters by aligning his campaign to that of former president Donald Trump.
He was up against former president Trump, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley, Mike Pence and other heavyweights. “As of this moment, we are going to suspend this presidential campaign,” Ramaswamy formally revealed.
However, it is not going to be a cake walk for Trump as experts do not rule out Haley or DeSantis making a strong comeback as his challengers.
