Trump Wins Iowa Caucuses in Historic Landslide

A Commanding Victory

Donald Trump won the 2024 Iowa Republican caucuses on January 15 with a historic margin, capturing roughly 51% of the vote. It was the largest margin of victory in the history of the Iowa Republican caucuses, surpassing Bob Dole’s 1988 performance. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis finished in a distant second with about 21%, followed by former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley at approximately 19%.

The Campaign Leading Up

Trump had entered the 2024 race in November 2022, long before most of his competitors. Despite facing multiple criminal indictments throughout 2023, his poll numbers among Republican primary voters only increased. His campaign strategy in Iowa relied heavily on a massive ground-game operation, holding frequent rallies across the state even as brutal winter weather descended on caucus night with temperatures well below zero.

Rivals Fall Away

The results effectively ended several candidacies. Vivek Ramaswamy, who had positioned himself as a Trump ally throughout the campaign, dropped out that same night and immediately endorsed Trump. DeSantis, who had once been seen as the most formidable challenger to Trump, limped out of Iowa having invested enormous resources in the state for a distant second-place finish. He would withdraw from the race just days later, before the New Hampshire primary.

Setting the Tone for the Primary

The Iowa blowout set the tone for what would become one of the most lopsided primary campaigns in modern Republican history. Trump went on to win New Hampshire, South Carolina, and virtually every subsequent contest, wrapping up the nomination months before the Republican National Convention. The caucus results demonstrated that despite his legal troubles and the January 6th attack on the Capitol, Trump had consolidated the Republican base more thoroughly than at any point in his political career.