Romney wins Iowa caucus
By Lavi Ben-Dor, Convergence Editor
The Republican presidential primaries kicked off with the Iowa caucuses on Jan. 3. Former Massacchussetts governor Mitt Romney, Texas congressman Ron Paul and former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum all took a lead early in the process of vote counting and the race ended up with almost a three-way tie.
Romney, with 30,015 votes (24.6 percent), defeated Santorum’s 30,007 (24.5 percent) by only eight votes. Paul was close, finishing with 26,219 votes.
The other candidates fared worse, with fourth-place former Speaker Newt Gingrich earning almost ten percent less than Paul’s 21.4 percent. Because of poor showings, some are considering whether to stay in the race or not. Minnesota Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann announced her decision in a news conference on Jan. 4 to drop out of the primaries.
“Last night the people of Iowa spoke with a very clear voice, and so I have decided to stand aside,” Bachmann said at the news conference. “I have no regrets. None whatsoever. We never compromised our principles.”
Texas governor Rick Perry returned to his home state after taking fifth place, saying after the results were finalized that he plans to reexamine his situation. However, on Jan. 4, he tweeted his intent to fight on in South Carolina, which holds its primaries on Jan. 21, the third ones of the season.
“And the next leg of the marathon is the Palmetto State…Here we come South Carolina!!!” Perry tweeted from @GovernorPerry on Jan. 4.
Many of the candidates plan to travel to New Hampshire to campaign before its Jan. 10 primaries, the second state to hold elections and one in which the results may differ.
Lavi Ben-Dor can be reached at lbendor@stoganews.com.
