JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Former President Donald Trump is celebrating his win in the Iowa caucuses as a blowout. Percentage-wise, that’s absolutely the case.
He won more than 56,000 votes Monday night, meaning he walked away with more than 50% of all ballots cast.
That’s 30% more than the closest competition: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
It was also the lowest-turnout caucus in a quarter-century.
Just 15% of the state’s registered Republicans, or 110,000 people showed up to vote, which isn’t surprising considering the dangerously cold temperatures Monday night that kept a lot of people home.
Trump’s 56,000 votes aren’t even enough to fill EverBank Stadium, which can hold 67,000 people.
By comparison, 2016 set a record for turnout at the caucuses with almost 187,000 GOP voters.
That was about 29% of registered Republicans at the time, and Ted Cruz won with 27% of those votes.
In the delegate race this time around, Trump will likely take 20 of Iowa’s 40 delegates. DeSantis will get at least eigh and Haley at least seven.
In the race for the GOP nomination, that’s a drop in the bucket as 1,215 delegates are needed to win.