On Monday night, Americans all across the country were staying up well past their bedtimes to hear the results of the 2016 Iowa Caucus. The verdict? It looks like Ted Cruz is the leading Republican candidate, and the remaining Democrats, Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton, fought a tight race that ended in less than a percentage point difference in the vote. While the Iowa Caucus is an interesting indicator of potential primary election results, a lot of people have no idea what the caucus actually is. Is it the same as a primary? Is it a primary for a primary? Does it actually mean anything at all? What do those results say about the upcoming election? If you’re as confused as we were before doing some extensive Googling, don’t worry. We have all the answers to your questions, as well as a breakdown of what went down in Iowa that night.
What is a caucus?
In a way, a caucus is a simple predeterminant of potential election results, and they’re usually pretty accurate. In short, GOP and Democratic voters gather to voice their votes, and each precinct of voters reports the overall results to the state government. In Iowa, the 2016 caucus occurred on Monday, and the final results were posted late that evening.
So what happened?
In some precincts, the Democratic vote was determined by a literal coin toss–that’s how close the race was. With Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton so close in the running, each of their votes rounding up to 50%, the night ended with Clinton beating out Sanders by .25% of the vote. Some people are raising questions about those coin tosses though, considering former Secretary of State Clinton won all six flips, which is nearly impossible. Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley dropped out of the race after coming in third place in the caucus.
The Iowa caucus is historically known for accurately predicting the democratic candidates that the state eventually chooses in the primaries. That being said, without the use of chance in the primaries, the democratic ballot could go either way. This is huge news for both the Clinton and Sanders campaigns. For Clinton, this was a wakeup call: the Sanders campaign is a force to be reckoned with. For Sanders, this was a moment of triumph, especially considering how far the campaign has come in the last year. In February of 2015, Sanders only had 7% of the public opinion in Iowa. Sanders gave a speech that Drake would be proud of at a rally after the caucus saying:
“Nine months ago, we came to this beautiful state. We had no political organization, we had no money, we had no name recognition, and we were taking on the most powerful political organization in the United States of America. And tonight, while the results are still not known, it looks like we are in a virtual tie.” #startedfromthebottomnowwehere
With the results of the vote being so close, Iowa precincts decided to review the polls over the weekend, and once again found Clinton to be the winner, though the review did earn Sanders a slightly higher delegate equivalent.
As far as the GOP is concerned, America breathed a sigh of relief after it was announced that Ted Cruz won the public opinion, beating out Donald Trump by 3.3%. Former Florida senator Marco Rubio came in third place, with 23.1% of the vote. Other noteworthy candidates Ben Carson and Carly Fiorina only earned 9.3% and 1.9% of the vote, respectively. That being said, Americans can’t jump for joy just yet; Trump is still leading in many state polls. In true Trump fashion, the candidate released a statement accusing Cruz of “stealing Iowa” in a voting conspiracy scandal and demanding the nullification of Cruz’s win.
What does this mean for young voters like me?
Whether you Stand With Her, #feelthebern, or want to make America great again, the democratic results of the caucus clearly demonstrate the idea that every vote counts. With our age demographic, from 18-29, being the group with the statistically lowest voter turnout in the country, it is important to make your voice heard. Get registered, find out your state’s primary voting dates, and cast your vote, because your word really does make all the difference.
The New York primary election is being held on March 19th, and all registrations must be completed 29 days in advance. For a complete list of the primary dates, click here.