By Jesse Dolojan, Education and Enrichment Coordinator
Former President Donald Trump won the Iowa Republican caucus by earning 51% of the total votes, cementing himself as the frontrunner to once again earning the Republican presidential nomination.
The victory in the Iowa caucus, which was called on Jan. 15, grants Trump momentum moving forward in the race to earn the Republican nomination, as each of his rivals garnered less than 25% of the remaining votes.
Ron DeSantis earned 21% of votes and Nikki Haley earned 19%. Vivek Ramaswamy, an Ohio native and graduate of St. Xavier High School in Cincinnati, earned 8% of the total votes, coming in fourth behind DeSantis and Haley.
On Jan. 15, soon after the Iowa caucus, Ramaswamy suspended his bid for the Republican nomination. Last Sunday, leading up to the New Hampshire primary, DeSantis also suspended his bid for the nomination.
Temperatures were recorded around -10 degrees Fahrenheit with a wind chill of -40 degrees Fahrenheit, and the bitter cold and snow kept many voters at home. The caucus had the lowest-turnout in over a quarter-century. Trump won the most votes in all but one of 99 counties in the state and only lost one county to Nikki Haley by a single vote.
Senior Philosophy, Politics and the Public (PPP) and Public Relations double major Ella Anich noted that the Iowa caucus emphasized how strong Trump’s base supports him.
“I think I read that in the past year, he’s only gone to Iowa 12 times, which in comparison to other candidates is staggeringly low. And so even despite that, he is winning the majority and the highest margin that anyone’s ever won in Iowa,” Anich said.
Interim PPP Director and Xavier political science professor Dr. Mack Mariani noted how difficult it would be moving forward for DeSantis and Haley and how important doing well in the primary will be for both candidates.
“The thing about these primaries, momentum is really important. So, if you do exceptionally well in a primary, that’s gonna give you an influx of money, that’s gonna give you a lot of free publicity. It’s going to sort of boost your campaign going forward,” Mariani said.
Haley is projected to perform well with independents within New Hampshire as she was popular among moderate Republicans and independents. Both of these groups are more common in New Hampshire in comparison to Iowa.
Beyond Iowa and New Hampshire, Anich observed how Ohio does have a similar demographic to Iowa in relation to voting. “I think Ohio is a pretty similar state to Iowa, we are definitely not as rural. But Trump has a pretty strong base here. He won it in 2020,” Anich said.
“And so I think it’d be really interesting to see how Ohio votes moving forward, knowing that we have that history with Trump,” she added.
Mariani stressed the need to be ready for another Trump-Biden race, and that as a community, Xavier needs to be ready to have these conversations leading up to the presidential election.
“I think that we’re going to have to be prepared as a campus to have conversations with people who are voting for Trump and people who are voting for Biden and to try to figure out ways to make sure that that happens and in ways that are productive, civil, informative,” Mariani said.