Donald Trump on Monday night cruised to victory in the Iowa Republican presidential caucuses.
Just 110,298, or less than 15%, of the state's 752,000 registered Republican voters took part in Monday's caucus.
Trump won with 56,260 votes, or 51%, setting a record for the largest margin of victory in a contested caucus in the state's history.
The former president's closest competitors were, in fact, not very close at all. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis earned 23,420 votes (21.2%), while former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley garnered 21,085 votes (19.1%). Businessman Vivek Ramaswamy received 8,449 votes (7.7%) and used his concession speech to announce his exit from the race and his endorsement of Trump. None of the other candidates in the race received even 1% of the vote.
The win gives Trump momentum headed into next week's primary election in New Hampshire, where Haley has been gathering strength in hopes of an upset victory that might inject new energy into her campaign.
The last time Trump ran in a competitive caucus in Iowa, when he was seeking the nomination in 2016, he lost a close race to Texas Senator Ted Cruz. In that contest, Trump earned 24.3% of the vote, or less than half of the share he claimed on Monday.
A poll of voters entering Iowa caucus sites Monday evening demonstrated the degree to which Trump has consolidated the support of a large share of the Republican electorate.
Trump had the backing of 49% of male voters heading into caucus sites, and 53% of female voters. He held 47% pluralities among urban and suburban voters, and a 57% majority of rural votes.
In an electorate that skewed older than the nation as a whole, Trump took a plurality of 42% of voters between 30 and 44 years of age, and won 54% of voters between 45 and 64, and 58% of voters 65 and older. He was weakest among voters 17 to 29, winning only 22% of their votes, compared to DeSantis' 30% and Haley's 25%.
Among the more remarkable shifts was Trump's performance among voters who identify themselves as evangelical or "born-again" Christians. In 2016, Cruz beat Trump soundly in the contest for that demographic. Yet on Monday, the former president claimed 53% of the evangelical vote, nearly twice DeSantis' 27%.
The voters who show up for caucus-style votes are typically more committed than the general electorate, as the process can take several hours to complete. Polls showed that 52% of caucus-goers on Monday identified as being "very conservative," with an additional 37% calling themselves "somewhat conservative." Only 9% considered themselves "moderate."
Two out of three caucus-goers told pollsters they believe Trump's false claim that President Joe Biden did not legitimately win the 2020 election. With Trump currently facing 91 felony counts in four different jurisdictions, 65% said they believe the former president would be fit for office even if he is convicted of a crime.
Monday's results were a blow to DeSantis, who had staked much on his performance in Iowa. The Florida governor has been a regular presence in the state for months and plowed a large share of his once-formidable campaign war chest into investments in a get-out-the-vote operation there.
DeSantis received the endorsements of Iowa's Republican governor, Kim Reynolds, and influential conservative activist Bob Vander Plaats. But high-profile backers and a strong campaign organization were simply no match for Trump's broad base of support in the state.
In a sign of his strategy for moving forward, the DeSantis campaign said he would be in South Carolina on Tuesday for a campaign event. He will still campaign in New Hampshire, which votes on January 23, but the move appeared to be an attempt to lower expectations for his performance there.
While Haley is competitive with Trump in New Hampshire, polls indicate DeSantis' support there is barely in the double digits.
Robert Oldendick, a professor of political science at the University of South Carolina, said that DeSantis' decision to highlight his effort in that state appeared to be a gamble that he could retain some viability in the race by challenging Haley in her home state when it votes in late February.
"If he would have had a very strong second place finish [in Iowa], he might have tried to compete in New Hampshire," Oldendick told VOA. "But … the Republican primary electorate in New Hampshire is not really very consistent with the type of issues that he is presenting. They're more independent voters and are much more likely to support Haley. So, rather than competing there and getting trounced, maybe he has a better chance competing with Haley in her home state."