WEST DES MOINES — Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders were locked in a dead heat as Iowa caucus results continued to be tallied late Monday night and early Tuesday morning. No clear winner has been announced, and the race is too close to call.
As of 12:35 a.m. Tuesday, Clinton led Sanders by .3 percent, 49.9 percent to 49.6 percent, with 96 percent of precincts reporting.
Iowa Democratic supporters of Sanders, Clinton, and former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley caucused at the 1,681 locations around all Iowa 99 counties vying for 44 delegates.
O’Malley, however, suspended his campaign early Monday evening as the caucus numbers came in.
Clinton was favored by 88 percent of Democrats who wanted a candidate with experience over other qualities, according to NBC entrance polls. Additionally 68 percent of those who want a candidate to continue President Obama’s policies sided with Clinton. The majority of Democrats who say health care is an important issue also preferred Clinton.
Democratic caucusgoers in West Des Moines were pleased with the process at the Ashworth Baptist Church location. Clinton received 91 votes, and Sanders received 89 there. O’Malley did not have enough caucusgoers to meet a viable threshold. Both Clinton and Sanders received 3 delegates at the precinct.
“It was my first time caucusing. I was a little shocked that it seemed like there were some people who went over [from O’Malley to Sanders] intentionally. It was really good,” Suzanne Poe told The Daily Caller.
“It was very close in here, but everything went very smoothly and really nice, but it was really close, because three people is all it was,” Nancy Murray, a Clinton supporter said.
Paul Mizzoula, a Sanders supporter and first-time caucusgoer, was also pleased with his caucus experience.
“I thought it was relatively straightforward and enjoyable. Everybody was civil. It was well organized and run. I thought the length of it was appropriate to keep people interested in coming out.”
Source: The Daily Caller
