During the Iowa caucuses, Trump established his dominance over the party and its supporters as he prepared for a 2020 rematch with the incumbent president. Joe Biden.
As the 2024 U.S. presidential election got underway Monday night (Jan. 15) in Iowa, as the state held its first national caucus, Trump played smart and moved closer to the Republican nomination by stepping aside of its objective. usual offensive style and praised his GOP rivals, ABC News reported.
Notably, Trump launched his bid to win the party’s third consecutive presidential nomination despite his absence from the GOP primary debates. The results also demonstrated how “devoted” Republicans remain to Trump amid his highly unusual campaign – fought between court appearances, indictments and exclusion from the ballot box.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis came in a distant second with eight delegates and former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley finished shortly behind with seven delegates as the contest moved to New Hampshire, where the latter enjoys of a certain influence.
Notably, the Republican and Democratic parties choose their candidates through caucuses and primaries, respectively. The majority of U.S. states hold primaries, although some traditional Republican strongholds, such as Iowa, hold caucuses to elect delegates. Delegates elected in caucuses and primaries vote at the convention, Al Jazeera reported. This unique voting event in Iowa, a Republican-majority state, marked the start of presidential primaries since 1972.
As the Iowa caucuses took place on January 15 (Monday evening), the New Hampshire primary will take place on January 23, which will be followed by the Nevada Democratic primary on February 6 and the Republican caucuses on February 8, a reported ABC News.
South Carolina’s first primary will be held on February 3 for Democrats and February 24 for Republicans.
On March 5, sixteen states and territories will hold their own Republican nomination contests, a number so large that the date has become known as Super Tuesday. Four additional states will hold races on March 12, and five more will follow on March 19.
There is little activity on the Democratic side as President Joe Biden intends to move toward the nomination given his popularity among the party’s voters.
However, according to ABC News, intraparty competitors such as author Marianne Williamson and Minnesota Rep. Dean Phillips will enter the unofficial New Hampshire Democratic primary on January 23, hoping to give their long-term campaigns.
The Republican National Convention will be held in Milwaukee from July 15-18, while the Democrats will hold their convention in Chicago from August 19-22.
The national conventions officially conclude the primary phase of the 2024 vote, and the general election campaign is expected to ramp up quickly over the summer leading up to Election Day on November 5.
However, due to the growing popularity of mail-in ballots, millions of people will likely vote.
Notably, as Trump solidified his position as the Republican presidential candidate in his bid to return to the White House, Ramaswamy withdrew from the race after finishing fourth in Iowa.
After dropping out of the race on Monday (local time), Ramaswamy immediately backed Trump and urged Republican voters to put an “America first patriot” in the White House.
