- After Trump’s landslide win in Iowa Monday, the GOP presidential field has consolidated and candidates are moving into the next phase of the primaries.
- Exit polling from Iowa revealed that Trump performed the best with voters over the age of 65, while DeSantis was most popular with young voters under 30 and Haley outperformed everyone with Iowans who identified as “moderate/liberal,” according to The Washington Post.
- “The Iowa results confirm a compelling consensus that Trump will be the nominee and there is nothing anyone can do about it absent an act of God or the courts,” Kirk Jowers, who has worked on five Republican presidential campaigns and is an advisor to DeSantis donors, told Reuters.
Former President Donald Trump’s win in the Iowa caucuses on Monday dwindled the GOP field, leaving just three candidates to plot their way forward as a slew of major primaries and caucuses still remain.
Trump met expectations by winning over 50% of the vote in Iowa, with Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis coming in second with 21.2% and former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley rounding out the top three at 19.1%. With the campaigns now turning to New Hampshire, Haley and DeSantis face tough choices moving forward in the Republican primary, while Trump continues to gain momentum after Vivek Ramaswamy’s endorsement on Monday. (RELATED: ‘I Was A Little Surprised’: Voters React To Vivek Ramaswamy Suspending Campaign After Iowa Loss)
“The Iowa Caucus results demonstrate the strength of Trump’s grip on the Republican Party,” Jimmy Centers previously told the DCNF. “Across voter demographics — like rural, urban, evangelical, college-educated, non-college-educated, men, women, young, old, — he won. Without a rapid consolidation of the field, it’s hard to imagine how he can be slowed in his race to secure the nomination.”
Exit polling from Iowa revealed that Trump performed the best with voters over the age of 65 and received the lowest support from voters in the 17 to 29 age range, according to The Washington Post. Immigration and the economy were the top issues Trump supporters cared about, and the former president garnered more votes from Republicans and independents than the other candidates.
Some have indicated that Trump has been pivoting to a general election-style campaign earlier than usual since he has a double-digit lead in the polls nationally. Kayleigh McEnany, Trump’s former press secretary and co-host of “Outnumbered,” said in a post Monday on X, formerly known as Twitter, that the former president’s victory speech “clearly” signaled that he is beginning the general election campaign.
Trump’s victory speech in Iowa emphasized the importance of “coming together.”
He praised rivals.
He spent time thanking others instrumental to his victory.
Took aim at Biden’s historic lows.
Very strong speech, clearly posturing toward a general election.
— Kayleigh McEnany (@kayleighmcenany) January 16, 2024
The turnout in Iowa was low at around 115,000 compared to the record-high 186,000 in 2016, according to the Post, partially due to the historically cold temperatures that remained well below zero Monday night. For DeSantis, despite coming in second, the results did not match the level of effort his campaign expended on the race after visiting all 99 counties and receiving the endorsement from Republican Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, according to NPR.
DeSantis did, however, have a good night with young voters, beating all the other candidates by winning 30% of voters between 17 to 29 in Iowa, according to the Post. The Florida governor also received a bump in the last month of the Iowa race, with 29% of voters deciding to commit to him as opposed to only 25% for Trump.
Though DeSantis has vowed to stay in the race, he is currently polling behind Haley and Trump at an average of less than 7% in New Hampshire, according to RealClearPolitics. Kirk Jowers, who has worked on five Republican presidential campaigns and is advising several DeSantis donors, said that there is little chance of anyone beating Trump after Iowa, according to Reuters.
DeSantis is placing his bets on South Carolina, and flew to Haley’s home state immediately after the caucuses for an event in Greenville, according to WYFF4, a local media outlet.
“The Iowa results confirm a compelling consensus that Trump will be the nominee and there is nothing anyone can do about it absent an act of God or the courts,” Jowers said.
Haley, who came in third, congratulated Iowans on making it “a two-person race” between her and Trump during her speech to voters Monday. Exit polls showed the former governor of South Carolina was most popular among those who identified as “moderate/liberal,” according to the Post.
Trump is currently leading in the polls in New Hampshire at an average of 43% to Haley’s 29%, according to RealClearPolitics. Haley has been spending a lot of time in the state and will likely continue to in the hopes of gaining more support from independents and Democrats looking for alternatives to Trump and President Joe Biden, according to WBUR, a local media outlet.
Trump’s campaign indicated Tuesday that they will be targeting the former U.N. ambassador in New Hampshire given her strong polling numbers in the state, according to NBC News. “Nikki should get out while people still talk about her for 2028, or she’ll end up like all the 2016s that nobody thinks of as future presidents anymore,” a Trump campaign adviser said. “A protracted ground war will cost us our money, but it will cost Nikki her reputation and image.”
Haley also went after Trump in a post on X Tuesday, saying that Trump “has nowhere left to hide.”
We’ve had five great debates in this campaign. Unfortunately, Donald Trump has ducked all of them. He has nowhere left to hide. The next debate I do will either be with Donald Trump or with Joe Biden. I look forward to it.
— Nikki Haley (@NikkiHaley) January 16, 2024
New Hampshire Republican strategist Matthew Bartlett told NBC News that going after Trump directly may not spell success for Haley going forward. “Like it or not, Republican voters do not want to hear how bad Donald Trump is. They’ve heard it for eight years from Democrats and the media,” Bartlett said. “There’s nothing you can tell a Trump voter that would surprise them.”
The Trump, DeSantis and Haley campaigns did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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