Gazette Daily News Briefing, January 16
This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette Digital News Desk, and I’m here with your update for January 16, 2024.
According to the National Weather Service it will be sunny and cold Tuesday, with a high near one degree. Wind chill values could drop as low as -35 degrees. On Tuesday evening it will be mostly clear, with a low of around -6 degrees.
Donald Trump’s popularity among Iowa Republicans was on full display Monday night, when the former president seeking a return to the White House won the state party’s presidential precinct caucuses in dominant fashion.
With all of the state’s 99 counties reporting their vote totals late Monday evening, Trump had won 98 counties, securing 51 percent of Iowa Republicans’ support in total. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis won second place with 21 percent, and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley finished third with 19 percent.
Republicans who spoke with the Gazette said they supported Trump because they feel the country is worse off than it was 4 years ago, and they would like a return to a Trump presidency. They said they trust him to secure the southern border and to improve the economy. Many of them also felt that they can’t trust politicians, so they will put their faith in someone from outside the system.
In case you are curious, the one county that Trump did not win was Johnson County, which gave the number one nod to Haley instead by the current margin of one vote.
Trump took the stage at his caucus-night rally at around 10 p.m. and thanked Iowa Republican caucus participants, his family, the Iowa public officials who have supported him, and his fellow candidates: DeSantis, Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy. He then turned his remarks to current Democratic President Joe Biden, and celebrated his historic victory margin.
DeSantis and Haley both proclaimed in their post-caucus speeches that despite not winning the caucus, they felt their finishes had given them enough momentum to stay in the race.
Not so for Ramaswamy. The Ohio biotech entrepreneur, who promised his far-right and anti-establishment policy proposals could unite the country around a shared identity, garnered less than 8 percent in Iowa’s caucuses. He decided Monday evening to drop out of the race and endorse Trump.
The Republican Party of Iowa late Monday night said it projected statewide caucus turnout of roughly 100,000, which was lower than usual for understandable reasons. Temperatures across the state reached historic lows for an Iowa caucus night, with wind chills in the range of minus 30 degrees.
Next up is the New Hampshire Primary on January 23. Enjoy the absence of political commercials and political texts. For a little while, at least.
