Trump secures frontrunner status with record Iowa win

Donald Trump secured a resounding win in the first 2024 Republican presidential contest in Iowa on Monday, asserting his command over the party despite facing scores of criminal charges as he seeks an election rematch with President Joe Biden.

Trump took over half the votes, propelling him towards what looks set to be a close and profoundly acrimonious election campaign against Biden, a Democrat, in November.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, 45, finished well behind Trump in second place in Iowa, edging out former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, 51, as they both failed to emerge as the chief opponents.

Trump, 77, the only current or ex-US president to be charged with criminal activity, won by an unprecedented margin for an Iowa Republican contest, strengthening his case that his nomination is a foregone conclusion given his massive lead in national polls.

According to Edison Research, Trump garnered 51 percent, DeSantis 21 percent, and Haley 19 percent, with 99 percent of the expected vote tallied. That victory margin far surpassed Bob Dole's previous record of 12.8 percentage points in 1988.

He hopes to fast-track the normally months-long Republican selection process with convincing early primary wins to force out his rivals.

Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy ended his long-shot presidential bid after winning just under 8 percent of the vote on Monday and endorsed Trump.

The candidates immediately move on to New Hampshire on Tuesday. The state's more moderate Republicans will choose their nominee next Tuesday, and polls show Trump with a smaller lead over Haley there and DeSantis far behind.

Trump's performance in Iowa showed his enduring popularity among Republican voters even after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol by a mob of his supporters and his 91 criminal charges for trying to overturn the 2020 election, retaining classified documents after leaving the White House and falsifying records over hush money payments to a porn star.

Trump has used his legal travails for fundraising and boosting his support as he protests his innocence and says he is the victim of a "witch hunt."

Nearly two-thirds of Iowa caucus-goers embraced his false claims about voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election, saying they did not think Biden legitimately beat Trump.

Over 60 percent said Trump would still be fit to serve as president even if convicted of a crime.

According to an Edison entrance poll, Trump dominated across the board: he won a majority among men and women, among those who consider themselves very conservative, somewhat conservative, and independent, among those who graduated college and those who did not.

Reuters