Close Caucus Results is a Roller-Coaster, Nail-Bitter

Early in the evening Ron Paul was in the lead. Then his lead deminished and it looked like he was going to take third, which he eventually did. When I went to bed last night, the report was the Rick Santorum had won the Iowa caucuses. Even though it was a statistical tie with Mitt Romney. However, this morning when I woke up, I learned that Romney had eked out an 8 vote win over Santorum.

Jan 03, 2012 (100% of precincts reporting)

Mitt Romney 30,015 24.6%

Rick Santorum 30,007 24.5%

Ron Paul 26,219 21.4%

Newt Gingrich 16,251 13.3%

Rick Perry 12,604 10.3%

Michele Bachmann 6,073 5%

Jon Huntsman 745 0.6%

Herman Cain 58 0%

Buddy Roemer 31 0%

No Preference 135 0.1%

Other 117 0.1%

Romney eked out a minuscule 8-vote victory over Rick Santorum in Iowa’s Republican presidential caucuses, the state party chairman said early Wednesday, ringing down the curtain on an improbable first act in the campaign to pick a challenger to President Barack Obama in the fall.

Appearing hours after the caucuses had ended, Matt Strawn said Romney had 30,015 votes, to 30,007 for Santorum, whose late surge carried him to a near win.
- AP story via IowaCaucus.com

CNN earlier in the evening as the late news would have been starting on the four major networks was projecting Santorum the winner and Romney the 2nd place finisher, but was not ready to officially project 3rd, 4th, 5th, etc. Well seems they still were a little early with the projecting game.

For whatever, it means the 24.6% finish is a record low. No Republican Caucus winner has ever received less then 26%. That being Bob Dole of Kansas, who received 26.3 percent support in 1996, when he won.

The next contest is this next Tuesday in New Hampshire, which hold the first in the Nation primary. No Republican president has ever been elected without winning the New Hampshire primary. Before President Bill Clinton, the same thing could have been said about the Democrats. Also no non-incumbent Republican has won both the Iowa Caucuses and the New Hampshire primary. If Romney, who is handily leading in New Hampshire wins that primary, he will be the first do so.

Stay tuned, our eyes will be glued to the big day. Who will be the challenger to President Barrack Obama?


----------
My name is Kevin, and that's what I think. What do you think? Agree? Disagree?

follow us on Twitter

---