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Cruz defeats Trump in Iowa; Clinton, Sanders in tight race

DES MOINES (Iowa) — Mr Ted Cruz, a fiery, conservative Texas senator loathed by his own party’s leaders, swept to victory in Iowa’s Republican caucuses yesterday (Feb 2), overcoming billionaire Donald Trump and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio. Among Democrats, Ms Hillary Clinton and Mr Bernie Sanders were deadlocked in a tight race.

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DES MOINES (Iowa) — Mr Ted Cruz, a fiery, conservative Texas senator loathed by his own party’s leaders, swept to victory in Iowa’s Republican caucuses yesterday (Feb 2), overcoming billionaire Donald Trump and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio. Among Democrats, Ms Hillary Clinton and Mr Bernie Sanders were deadlocked in a tight race.

Mr Cruz’s victory was a harsh blow to Trump, the supremely confident real estate mogul who has roiled the Republican field for months with controversial statements about women and minorities.

The victory in the first Republican nominating contest ensures that Cruz will be a force in the presidential race for weeks to come — if not longer. The first-term Texas senator now heads to next week’s New Hampshire primary as an undisputed favourite of the furthest right voters, a position of strength for drawing in evangelical voters and others who prioritise an abrupt break with President Barack Obama’s policies.

Perhaps most importantly, Mr Cruz’s win denied Mr Trump a huge opportunity to gain momentum heading into New Hampshire. Mr Trump parlayed his fame as a real estate mogul and reality television star into large rallies and national poll numbers that before last night had established him as the Republican front-runner.

Mr Trump, who campaigned on the concept of being a winner, held a narrow lead for second place over Rubio, who has helped cement his status as the favourite of mainstream Republican voters who worry that Mr Cruz and Mr Trump are too caustic to win the November general election.

Mr Rubio cast his stronger-than-expected finish as a victory.

“We have taken the first step, but an important step, to winning the nomination,” Mr Rubio said at a campaign rally in Des Moines.

Mr Trump sounded humble in defeat, saying he was “honoured” by the support of Iowans. And he vowed to keep up his fight for the Republican nomination.

“We will go on to easily beat Hillary or Bernie or whoever the hell they throw up,” Mr Trump told cheering supporters.

The Iowa caucuses kicked off voting in the 2016 presidential race, a tumultuous contest with unexpected candidates challenging both the Republican and Democratic establishments.

Candidates faced an electorate deeply frustrated with Washington. While the economy has improved under Mr Obama, the recovery has eluded many Americans. New terror threats at home and abroad have increased national security concerns

Ms Clinton, the former secretary of state, US senator and first lady, had once been expected to cruise to victory in Iowa and beyond. But Mr Sanders has appealed to the Democrats’ liberal base, especially the young, who are concerned about growing income inequality and the shrinking of the middle class.

Vote counts past the 90 per cent point in tabulations showed Clinton and Sanders in a virtual tie.

Iowa has long led off the state-by-state contests to choose delegates for the parties’ national conventions. Historically, a victory has hardly assured the nomination — Iowa accounts for only about 1 percent of the delegates who select the nominee. But a win there, or even an unexpectedly strong showing, can give a candidate momentum and media attention, while a poor showing can end a candidacy.

Yesterday’s contest offered the first test of whether Trump could turn the legion of fans drawn to his plainspoken populism into voters. But he faced a tough rival in Mr Cruz, whose uncompromising and sometimes abrasive anti-Washington approach has antagonised establishment Republicans, but excited conservatives who see politicians as unprincipled and ineffective.

Ms Clinton has campaigned as a progressive who could get things done in a Washington split by an intense partisan divide. But her familiar name and long resume aren’t necessarily advantages in an election year dominated by anti-establishment candidates. Ms Clinton has also been on the defensive over her use of a personal email account for official business as secretary of state, raising questions about whether she mishandled government secrets and her overall trustworthiness.

Mr Sanders’ strong showing in Iowa could give him momentum heading into New Hampshire, which is next to his home state of Vermont. But his long-term prospects remain questionable. Ms Clinton has a lead in national polls and is well-placed to win other states over the next month, especially those which unlike Iowa have large numbers of black and Latino voters.

Iowa is a contest of organisation as well as popularity. With votes being cast in about 2,000 meetings across the state, candidates not only had to win over voters, but make sure their supporters turned up — a much more difficult task than generating turnout for all-day primary voting.

Some of the Republican candidates have been focusing more on New Hampshire than Iowa, including former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Ohio Gov. John Kasich and New Jersey Gov Chris Christie.

The caucuses marked the end of at least two candidates’ White House hopes. Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley ended his longshot bid for the Democratic nomination and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee dropped out of the Republican race. AP

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