Washington, January 16 – Former US President Donald Trump is leading in the preliminary elections of the Republican Party in the state of Iowa, according to preliminary voting results published by NBC on Monday evening. On average, about half of Republican supporters have backed Trump. The fight for second place is expected to be between Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and former US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley. Businessman Vivek Ramaswami and former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson are considered underdogs. The results of the statewide Republican caucuses, known as “caucuses,” will be published by the end of the evening. The Iowa caucus marks the beginning of the US primary election season. Republicans hold in-person conferences, called caucuses, to determine their unified candidate. The caucuses started at 7:00 PM local time, with representatives of candidates or politicians speaking at the precincts, followed by registered voters casting their votes using ballots. Iowa will send 40 delegates to the Republican National Convention in July, who will be divided among the candidates proportionally based on the caucus results. In total, 2,500 people will vote at the national convention, and a candidate needs the votes of 1,215 delegates to win. The Democratic National Convention will have 3,900 delegates, and a candidate needs the votes of 1,969 delegates to win. Democrats do not hold caucuses in Iowa; instead, they vote by mail. The presidential elections in the US are scheduled for November 5, 2024. It is expected that if Donald Trump is nominated by the Republican Party, he will face incumbent President Joe Biden. However, as indicated by the results of sociological research, Trump has a good chance of winning the pre-election race.
