DeSantis distant second in Iowa caucus, Ramaswamy quits
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More news: Florida governor Ron DeSantis has come a distant second in the Iowa Republican caucus to Donald Trump, gaining less than half the votes of the former president.
With more than 95% of votes counted, DeSantis has about 21.3% support, about two percentage points ahead of former UN ambassador Nikki Haley. Businessman Vivek Ramaswamy is in fourth place and has announced he will quit the race after his poor result in Iowa. All three combined still came up short of Trump's massive 51% vote.
The Republican nomination race moves to New Hampshire next, with pre-polls leaning heavily towards Trump ahead of the 23 January vote.
Trump wins first Republican caucuses in Iowa: AP
The news: Associated Press has declared Donald Trump the winner of the Iowa caucuses, in the first contest to determine which Republican will run against president Joe Biden in this year's US presidential election.
The numbers: The newswire called the result based on early returns and prepoll surveys. Initial votes from eight Iowa counties indicated Trump had significantly more than half the vote, smashing his 2016 performance when he received 24% of the vote, compared to 28% for Ted Cruz.
The context: As the result was widely anticipated, the main focus will be on the race for second place and who might be Trump's main competitor ahead of the Republican nomination: Nikki Haley or Ron DeSantis.
The source: Associated Press
