LiveUpdated
Tuesday 4 February 2020 02:31
After months of campaigning, the moment of truth has finally come for Democrats in Iowa, the state that has now officially kicked off the 2020 primary season.
Satellite precincts were beginning to vote as a new report from The Hill claimed advisers to Joe Biden predicted the caucus “wasn’t going to be great” for them. In a final poll before caucusing got underway across the state, it was Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg who led the pack and were tied at the top — quite the place to be in for the two candidates who have been seen as political outsiders each in their own way.
Alongside those two were Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren, Amy Klobuchar and Andrew Yang among the top candidates vying for their place in history.
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Bernie Sanders appears to have won in Blackhawk county, one of nearly 1,700 statewide:
Reports indicate Joe Biden – who was seen as the most formidable opponents to Donald Trump by many analysts – is not viable among caucus-goers in several precincts. Tensions are high as the first round of votes comes in across the state:
Entrance polls show a strong showing for former Vice President Joe Biden among the oldest voting bloc in the Iowa caucus, while Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders is leading among the youngest generations of voters partaking in the first-in-the-nation vote.
A third of voters participating in the caucus on Monday night are over the age of 65. A third of those voters said they were planning to support Mr Biden.
Another interesting note: a third of the voters participating on Monday are first-time attendees – a voting bloc Mr Sanders tends to do better with than Mr Biden.
Breaking: Multiple outlets are projecting Donald Trump will handedly win the Republican primaries in Iowa. The Republican incumbent is facing at least two challengers within his party, Joe Walsh and Bill Weld.
Entrance polls show Bernie Sanders with more than half of the youth vote among Iowa caucus goers, as reports from precincts across the state indicate the Vermont senator is seeing a strong showing:
Reports indicate turnout has been larger than expected at least in some precincts across Iowa –
Looks like someone was trying to have a bit of fun during the Iowa caucus:
Interesting note – at least 20% of those surveyed in entrance polling said they just recently decided their preferred candidate.
An NBC News entrance poll of the Democratic caucusgoers in Iowa shows that a substantial majority (63%) want a candidate capable of defeating Donald Trump.
While 34% of those voters identified as moderate or conservative, 40% said they were “somewhat liberal” and another 26% said they were “very liberal.”
The largest voting bloc age wise was 65-and-older, with 36% of those participating, whereas just 20% of participants are under the age of 30.
Reports indicate that a large portion of those participating tonight are first-time caucus-goers:
Entrance polls are showing strong signals from Bernie Sanders, with MSNBC reporting over 50 per cent of caucus voters between 17-29 years of age supporting the Vermont senator. We’ll continue to bring you live updates as they roll in – stay tuned.
Donald Trump’s inner circle flocked to Iowa for a rally that featured his two eldest sons in support of the president’s re-election, just as Democratic voters were participating in the first-in-the-nation caucus on Monday night.
Donald Trump Jr warned the president’s supporters to reject the Democratic candidates vying for a shot at unseating his father in the Oval Office, as polls showed Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders with a lead in the key early-voting state.
“When I see the mainstream ideals of socialism and communism actually being pushed — I know we say this as a joke and everyone’s laughing, but it’s not a joke,” the 42-year-old, who has himself hinted at the possibility of running for office, reportedly said to the crowd.
“While we’ve done a lot, there’s still a lot left to be done,” he added. “Donald Trump’s gonna do that.”
Story to come…
The Independent’s John Bennett has the latest on Joe Manchin’s calls to censure Donald Trump:
Mr Sanders wife Jane, just came and spoke briefly to the press. She was asked how she was feeling: “Excited, nervous and hopeful. And grateful to Iowa for taking their responsibilities so seriously, and the senator feels the same.”
Hello, This is Andrew Buncombe, writing this from the ballroom of the Holiday Inn at the airport, where Bernie Sanders and his supporters are going to be gathering this evening. The senator is in his way from DC.
Though the president has taken a strict stance for others honouring the national anthem, he has been accused of forgetting the words to the iconic song on multiple occasions, including during a 2018 football game in Atlanta and another event last year in Alabama.
Elizabeth Warren also tweets out an encouraging message to her supporters just ahead of the crucial vote –
Bernie Sanders has tweeted that “the whole world is looking at Iowa today’ as polls show him in the lead ahead of the first-in-the-nation caucus. Voting is set to begin across the state at 8:00pm local time –
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